Related topics: carbon dioxide , energy
Power station
hideA power station (also referred to as a generating station, power plant, or powerhouse) is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power.
Power plant is also used to refer to the engine in ships, aircraft and other large vehicles. Some prefer to use the term energy center because it more accurately describes what the plants do, which is the conversion of other forms of energy, like chemical energy, gravitational potential energy or heat energy into electrical energy. However, power plant is the most common term in the U.S., while elsewhere power station and power plant are both widely used, power station prevailing in many Commonwealth countries and especially in the United Kingdom.
At the center of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. It depends chiefly on which fuels are easily available and on the types of technology that the power company has access to.
For more information about Power station, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with power plants
Forests of Artificial Trees Could Slow Global Warming
Aug 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study on how technology could help to regulate climate change has studied hundreds of ideas, and selected three considered practical and able to be implemented quickly. The report's ...
How a Solar-Hydrogen Economy Could Supply the World's Energy Needs
Aug 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world's oil supply continues to dry out every day, the question of what will replace oil and other fossil fuels is becoming more and more urgent. According to the World Coal Institute, ...
A greener way to get electricity from natural gas
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new type of natural-gas electric power plant proposed by MIT researchers could provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, at costs comparable to or less than ...
Harnessing the power of salt, Norway tries osmotic power
Nov 23, 2009 |
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After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.
More efficient solar power with space technology
Oct 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new system from an Italian company uses weather satellite data to estimate the potential of solar cell power plants and monitor their performance. The approach helps to give a faster return ...
Why leave it to nature? Chemistry professor wants to understand, simplify, photosynthesis
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Amid calls for transformative change in the world’s energy supply, Harvard chemist Ted Betley is taking a back-to-basics approach and examining the mother of all energy supplies -- photosynthesis ...
Home power plants project unveiled in Germany
Sep 09, 2009 |
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An ambitious project was unveiled in Germany on Wednesday to install mini gas-fired power plants in people's basements and produce as much electricity as two nuclear reactors within a year.
Scrubbing sulfur: New process removes sulfur components, CO2 from power plant emissions (w/ Video)
Aug 18, 2009 |
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The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a reusable organic liquid that can pull harmful gases such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide out of industrial emissions from ...
Double-action power stations: Energy and hydrogen
Apr 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Gas power plants could be cheaply retrofitted to generate hydrogen as well as power, chemists say in Green Chemistry, a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.
EPA finds greenhouse gases pose a danger to health
Apr 17, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency concluded Friday that greenhouse gases linked to climate change "endanger public health and welfare," setting the stage for regulating them under federal clean air laws.
US electricity grid hit by cyber attacks: report
Apr 08, 2009 |
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Chinese and Russian cyber-spies have hacked into the US electricity grid and inserted programs that could be used to disrupt the system, a report said Wednesday.
EarthTalk: Are hybrid cars really better for the environment?
Mar 30, 2009 |
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Dear EarthTalk: If you have an electric or plug-in hybrid car, you're paying for electricity rather than gasoline all or most of the time. How does that cost compare to a gas-powered car's cost-per-mile? And since the electricity ...
Researchers Work to Make Wood a New Energy Source
Mar 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Is wood the new coal? Researchers at North Carolina State University think so, and they are part of a team working to turn woodchips into a substitute for coal by using a process called torrefaction that ...
Intelligent use of the Earth's heat
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 27, 2009 |
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Geothermal energy is increasingly contributing to the power supply world wide. Iceland is world-leader in expanding development of geothermal utilization: in recent years the annual power supply here doubled ...
Mini Nuclear Power Plants Could Power 20,000 Homes (Update)
Nov 12, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Underground nuclear power plants no bigger than a hot tub may soon provide electricity for communities around the world. Measuring about 1.5 meters across, the mini reactors can each power ...
