3 ms·
> And furthermore, as I understand it, lost energy tends to become heat! AFAIK the whole problem is that "waste" heat happens at the coal/gas plant where heat
by MaulingMonkey 8y ago
> And furthermore, as I understand it, lost energy tends to become heat!
AFAIK the whole problem is that "waste" heat happens at the coal/gas plant where heat is converted into electricity in the first place, and (to a lesser extent?) in the transmission lines, not at your house where it'd be useful.
- kristiandupont 8y agoOk, this I can understand. If the cost is in fact in the initial conversion rather than in transportation, it makes sense. In that case though, we are not nearly as good at turning heat into electricity as I thought.
- MaulingMonkey 8y agohttp://insideenergy.org/2016/06/20/ie-questions-can-we-turn-power-plants-wasted-heat-into-power/ http://insideenergy.org/2016/06/20/ie-questions-can-we-turn-... is an interesting read. The efficiency of a basic coal plan is pretty dismal - converting a mere third of the released heat into useful electricity if I'm understanding right. And even if you build a state of the art combined heat & power system (requiring steam pipes to heat houses, not just electric lines) we're still looking at only ~85% efficiency.