From Tony Fogarty
Power generation from coal is a threat to the climate (17 March, p 14). There are, however, abundant supplies of cheap coal which will be used. Storage or sequestration of carbon dioxide is only a partial solution. It is just as important to build combined heat and power (CHP) stations. If a power station is 30 per cent efficient, and 10 per cent is then lost in transmission, only 27 per cent of the coal burned is producing electricity and 73 per cent is wasted.
CHP increases the percentage of energy used to around 80 per cent. New power stations should be built only if they use the “waste” heat, and transmission losses should be minimised by shortening the distance power lines cover. The heat can be used for district domestic heating, or industrial processes, or even to provide refrigeration. The power generation industry claims that gigawatt-sized stations are more economic than smaller ones – but this ignores the increased output in energy from local CHP.
Norwich, UK
