a water vapor explosion creates a high volume of gas without producing environmentally harmful leftovers. the controlled explosion of water has been used for generating steam in power stations and in modern types of steam turbines. newer steam engines use heated oil to force drops of water to explode and create high pressure in a controlled chamber. the pressure is then used to run a turbine or a converted combustion engine. hot oil and water explosions are becoming particularly popular in concentrated solar generators, because the water can be separated from the oil in a closed loop without any external energy. water explosion is considered to be environmentally friendly if the heat is generated by a renewable resource.