In many places around the world, heat from combustion-fueled power plants is used to heat surrounding homes. In America, this byproduct heat is usually wasted, piped out of smokestacks in billows of steam or sent with the cooling water back to the lake or river. In a way, this wasteful practice represents the American preference for independence over centralization, and indeed centralized heating is found in mostly socialist and former communist countries. Moreover, American dwellings aren't ideally arranged for central heating of this type since many areas are so spread out and power plants are often located far from cities. (Of course, in many universities and urban areas, cogeneration facilities do provide heat and power.) But, how can we recapture wasted heat in suburban or rural areas in a manner that is respectful of our national ethic?
One idea I've been mulling over is using heat and steam to warm tropical greenhouses to grow produce such as tropical fruits. Since many power plants are cooperatively owned state owned, the right to plant in these greenhouses could be auctioned off with the proceeds going to lowering electricity rates. Of course, the point would be more to use the extra heat and water (to create business!) than to lower electricity rates, but if the program could pay for itself, I would consider it a success.
Similarly, since combustion power plants produce prodigious amounts of waste carbon dioxide, the waste heat, steam, and carbon dioxide could be used to grow and keep warm (especially in the winter or up north) algae that uses communal sewage for nutrients. Algae must be exposed to sunlight to grow, which means that it has been so far limited to being researched in warm, southern areas. With a virtually free heater to keep the algae alive through the cold, a power plant could grow its own fuel, reducing its fuel costs at least to the break-even point, and have a small carbon offset system right on site!
Just a thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment