Nearly all power plants in the United States use water to regulate temperature. These water-cooled plants account for more than 40 percent of the nation’s freshwater withdrawals each year.
Nearly all power plants in the United States use water to regulate temperature. These water-cooled plants account for more than 40 percent of the nation’s freshwater withdrawals each year.
The towering plumes of steam emanating from power plant calderas that have come to symbolize the massive and, at times, menacing nature of the energy industry might soon have their natural dissipation into thin air preempted by a figurative one. A team of researchers from Drexel University, in concert with experts from academia and industry, are creating a new technology that replaces the voluminous amounts of steam-producing water used to cool the plants with trillions of tiny wax beads—and could be the end of those fluffy, yet ominous, white clouds. Read more
