Re:Donald Trump’s Contract with the American Voter [pdf]
by idanoeman on Thursday November 10, 2016 @02:01AM
(#12918324)
Hold on, coal plants are already only ~35% efficient at converting heat into electricity. Subtract 30% and you're left with 5%, not 70%.
Re:Donald Trump’s Contract with the American Voter [pdf]
by Sacho on Thursday November 10, 2016 @02:41AM
(#12918483)
Err... that's not how an efficiency rate works.
If it takes you 30% of the initial energy to get to the heat->electricity phase, then the heat->electricity phase receives 70% of the initial energy. From that point, a 35% efficient transfer means 24.5% efficiency from the initial energy.
I'm saying that the idea is completely compatible with science, and at a cursory inspection seems like a completely viable solution. There's no education problem involved in at least discussing it.
Is coal at ~70% efficiency a better solution than nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, etc.? I'm not sure, but that is sure as hell not snake oil.