Bright future for steam technology
JUN 11, 2009
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023418
Wired.com : Take a jet engine hooked up to some big magnets, add some steam pipes, and what do you have? The comeback of some old-school technologies that could help solve our modern energy problem.The idea is simple—generate both electricity and heat in the same place, but the potential benefits are big.Unlike a traditional electric power plant, which can convert about 40 percent of its fuel into electricity but wastes the rest as heat, these combination plants capture that heat and use it to warm or cool buildings. The efficiency of combined heat and power plants can reach into the 80 percent range.The Department of Energy has place $156 million of stimulus funding on these steam-age ideas. It fits with industrial, commercial and municipal interest in reducing fuel costs and environmental footprints.
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
