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RE: Why are you managing your own power plant?

richardbelldc 9th Dec 2008

This author could not be more mistaken about the economics of generating your own power. Because of heat losses, generating power at central power stations by burning fossil fuels wastes more energy than reaches the consumer because of the lower-grade thermal energy that is released into the environment; a central power station that is 50% efficient is doing extremely well. But by combining the generation of electricity with the use of this "waste" thermal heat, co-generating plants can be as much as 80% of more efficient. European nations are far in advance of the U.S. in taking advantage of these higher efficiencies. Increasing the percentage of electricity generated at co-generating plants is one of the key tactics for bringing climate change under control.