Home power plants

The failure of the electric car, of Edison s home power plant, and of trolleys and light rail was not inevitable or even sensible. Such... 

When fossil fuels such as coal, oil, or natural gas (i.e., hydrocarbons) are burned in power plants to generate electricity or to heat our homes... 

The first centralized electric generating plant in the United States was Edison s three-unit steam-engine-based station, which suppHed electric power to light approximately 5000 electric lamps in a group of homes and businesses in New York City in 1882. Also in 1882, the first hydroelectric power plant went into operation in Appleton, Wisconsin, generating approximately 25 kW of power, enough to power more than 200 100-watt light bulbs. 

The predominant air pollution problem of the nineteenth century was smoke and ash from fhe burning of coal or oil in the boiler furnaces of stationary power plants, locomotives, and marine vessels, and in home heating fireplaces and furnaces. Great Britain took the lead in addressing this problem, and, in the words of Sir Hugh Beaver (3) ... 

The utilities in our modern society are so much a part of our lives that it is hard to imagine how we survived without them. An electric power plant generates electricity to heat and light our homes in addition to providing power for the television, refrigerator, and electric toothbrush. When our homes were heated with wood fires, home-made candles were used... 

The average American home is responsible for more annual pollution than the average car. This often comes as a surprise because the pollution attributed to homes is produced miles away at a power plant or out-of-sight from roof exhaust flues. However, eveiy time someone flips a switch, activates the air conditioning, or takes a shower, pollution is being produced. There will be growing appreciation for energy efficient homes that help prevent pollution. 

In the United States, methane is a major energy source used in many homes for cooking and heating of water and indoor air and water. It is commonly known that some power plants and industries use natural gas as a source of energy for generation of electricity and process heat and that this methane is a fossil fuel obtained from gas wells and transmitted throughout the country by gas pipelines. Most people also know that methane bubbles up from polluted swamps where sedimented plant matter is undergoing decomposition. Because of odors from swamps, and the odor due to natural gas additives, methane is incorrectly considered malodorous. 

An Important difference is In the use of materials which in Prance la only about 2/3 of the United States. Hven greater is the difference of the amount of labor Involved which in France is only about 1/3 of the United States. A still greater ratio exists in the number of engineers and draftsmen required. One reason for that le that a larger fraction of the design la done in the home office rather than in the field. In the United States in 1967 about 3.3 million man hours were required to build a nuclear power plant in 1983 this number had gone up to 30 million man lioura. Field services in the U.S. went from 1.3 to 22 million man hours. 

Cars and light trucks produce about 20% of the carbon dioxide emitted in the U.S., while power plants burning fossil fuels are responsible for more than 40% of C02 emissions. Fuel cells can be used to generate electricity for homes and businesses. 

Many studies assume improvements in the gas mileage of cars and efficiency in the production of energy in power plants, in industrial applications and in home heating, lighting and other sectors. U.S. manufacturers could improve the average energy efficiency of cars and trucks. But, as America s fleet of older vehicles is replaced with newer cars with less pollution, C02 emissions may change very little or even increase since additional miles may be driven. 

The first commercial power plant to burn cattle manure to generate electricity was established in the Imperial Valley of southern California in 1987. The plant had a capacity of about 17 megawatts and supplied electricity to 20,000 homes. The manure is burned to produce steam for the generator. 

A number of methods can he used to control thermal pollution. Many environmentalists point out that one approach is for consumers and industries simply to reduce the amount of electricity they use and waste, allowing power plants to reduce the amount of electricity they generate. Another approach is to discharge heated water in places that are less ecologically sensitive, that is, bodies of water that contain fewer hsh, shellhsh, and other aquatic organisms that are affected by heated water. For example, heated water can he used to heat homes, office buildings, and other structures. 

In Australia, for example, a 50-megawatt Tapio Station plant is under consideration that would feature a tower that is 1,600 feet tall and 260 feet in diameter. The tower would be surrounded by a two-mile diameter transparent canopy that will trap and heat air at ground level, which will naturally rise into the tower (which acts as a kind of vacuum). Inside the tower, wind is produced by the vacuum to power an array of turbines clustered around the tower. Proponents of the project, which is headed by Melbourne-based EnviroMission Ltd. (www.enviromission.com.au). hope to eventually power as many as 200,000 homes. Another plant with a tower that soars to half a mile is proposed for China. As of 2007, EnviroMission continued to seek development money. 

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