Global Monitor: Npower plans big coal plant in UK

Power, Apr 2007

face= Bold; Readers talk backface=-Bold;

face= Bold; Historical perspectiveface=-Bold;

I noted in your current issue that the magazine has been published in some form for 125 years. As a fan of industrial archeology and as a mechanical engineer, I would love to see some of the early articles from the magazine. Have you ever considered putting out a special edition with particularly interesting articles which have had great influence on the power business over the past century plus?

face= Bold; face= Bold; --Jack J. Fritz,face=-Bold; PhD, PE, Senior ¨Environmental Specialist, Bechtel Power Corp.face=-Bold;

face= Bold; Editor: Many articles written by POWER editors over the past 125 years were groundbreaking at the time and of lasting interest (at least to Jack and me). If there is enough interest from others, we could dust off a few of these oldies but goodies and either reprint them in POWER or combine them into an online supplement. Drop me an e-mail at editor@powermag.com and let us know if Jack's proposal piques your interest.face=-Bold;

face= Bold; Improving plant efficiencyface=-Bold;

It's curious to me that the power generation industry is silent on a most obvious source of abundant, nonpolluting energy--namely, tapping the inefficiency of the Carnot cycle. In the 1970s, there was some discussion regarding low-level heat recovery from the condenser discharge but there was no significant technical follow-through.

I'd like to see the industry challenge the technical community to a contest to develop a practical method of using the waste heat from the existing power plants to generate additional electrical power via alternative energy cycles.

face= Bold; face= Bold; --A. Ronald Jacobstein,face=-Bold; President, ThermTech Services Inc.face=-Bold;

face= Bold; Editor: Practical ideas for improving power plant efficiency have never been in more demand than they are today. Send us your ideas and we'll print the best of the lot.face=-Bold;

face= Bold; Saving kilowatt-hoursface=-Bold;

face= Bold; In my February Speaking of POWER column ("Birds in the hand for COface= Subscript; 2face=-Subscript; "), I (Editor-in-Chief Dr. Robert Peltier, PE) made several suggestions for practical ways to reduce COface= Subscript; 2face=-Subscript; emissions, and I asked readers to send me their own proposals for doing so.face=-Bold;

face= Bold; Larry Hooksface=-Bold; , plant operations superintendent at the Elmer Smith Station of Owensboro Municipal Utilities, sent me his list:

Turn off more street lights and most lights in empty buildings at night (no later than 10:00 p.m.).

Outlaw the use of light-absorbing dark colors (such as black) for roofs and roadways.

Increase emissions of particulates instead of decreasing them.

Encourage those who can to garden and grow their own foods, thus reducing COface= Subscript; 2face=-Subscript; emissions from trucks.

Encourage telecommuting and remote networking instead of travel.

Award conservation and energy efficiency by inverting rate schedules. Charge the least for the first tier of energy use and the most for higher tiers. Tax fuel instead of income, similar to the idea of a national sales tax. The tax could be refunded for the poor, like the earned income tax credit.