Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Air Quality and Power
I've written before on air quality and pollution.
Today there's even some good news: a new company is developing a system that could harness 'waste heat' from power plants to produce more power. Shockingly, they're from Texas. Which is not known for its dedication to efficiency or to the environment. If this technology gets off the ground, it'll be a good step in the right direction for reducing pollution and fuel consumption. Also, however, while it's not stated in the article, I wonder if this sort of system couldn't be adapted to simply make other fuels more useful: solar cells, for instance, would have no problem heating things to 55 degrees even in winter. Anyone know more about this?
Also on the power front, it turns out that nasty blackout in the northeastern US last year had some good side effects: drastically reduced air pollution and acid rain levels. These data aren't at all a surprise, of course, but are a neat little proof-of-concept. It would be nice if I believed people might see this and wake the fuck up on enforcement/enhancing environmental laws.
Today there's even some good news: a new company is developing a system that could harness 'waste heat' from power plants to produce more power. Shockingly, they're from Texas. Which is not known for its dedication to efficiency or to the environment. If this technology gets off the ground, it'll be a good step in the right direction for reducing pollution and fuel consumption. Also, however, while it's not stated in the article, I wonder if this sort of system couldn't be adapted to simply make other fuels more useful: solar cells, for instance, would have no problem heating things to 55 degrees even in winter. Anyone know more about this?
Also on the power front, it turns out that nasty blackout in the northeastern US last year had some good side effects: drastically reduced air pollution and acid rain levels. These data aren't at all a surprise, of course, but are a neat little proof-of-concept. It would be nice if I believed people might see this and wake the fuck up on enforcement/enhancing environmental laws.
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