Steve Mills

These relate mostly to the costs of providing the infrastructure required to deliver power. They include the cost of energy lost as heat as it travels from the power station down the transmission and distribution wires to the consumption point.

Energy input per unit of time, usually expressed in kWh/hour BTU/hour

A device which transfers heat from a heat source to a heat sink using a refrigeration cycle which is driven by external electric or thermal energy. It can use the ground (geothermal/ ground-source), the surrounding air (aerothermal/air-source) or a body of water (hydrothermal/water-source) as a heat source in heating mode,…

A measure of power – 1,000,000,000 watts / 1,000 MW

Breakdown of hydrocarbons into a syngas by reacting the feedstocks at high temperature while carefully controlling the amount of oxygen present.

Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGTs) and  Open Cycle Gas Turbines burn natural gas to produce electricity. They emit carbon dioxide, but the emissions are significantly lower than those from coal-burning stations.

A liquid fuel made from biomass (typically corn, sugar cane or small cereals/grains) which can replace petrol in modest percentages for use in ordinary spark-ignition engines (stationary or in vehicles), or which can be used at higher blend levels (usually up to 85% ethanol, or 100% in Brazil) in slightly-modified…

Energy recovery of post recycling waste residue - an alternative to landfill.

An agreement to buy electricity from another party at a specified time in the future at a specified price with money changing hands at the delivery date.

Burning coal produces sulphur dioxide which is emitted through the chimney of the power station. To reduce these emissions - which contribute to acid rain - Flue Gas Desulphurisation units can be fitted to coal powered plants. These work by capturing the gases in an absorber, and then mixing them…