why aren't electricity generating stations usually built in cities?? please help!
2006-09-20 05:32:50 · 12 answers · asked by Xx_Kaylee_xX 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
Hi!
Because of gaseous fumes from the turbines and furnaces. Also, should there be an explosion, the city would be at risk of damage. Lastly, the plant may need room for expansion, so out in the country is usually best.
Hope this helps!
Luv
Metia
XO
2006-09-20 05:35:33 · answer #1 · answered by metiae65 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
infrastructure
most power stations are thermal - that means they burn something (coal, gas, rubbish, oil, straw, chicken litter, uranium (not exactly burning), coconut husks, used cooking oil, oily sludge from the Orinoco delta) to make electricity. if you burn something, you need a port, railhead, truck yard or pipeline to bring "something" in. Or you can locate yourself right next to where it is to be found. You also need a whole lot of real estate to stock, treat, clean, polish, shuffle or whatever it is that you do with your something. So you don't want to pay city prices. You are also likely to need a LOT of water because of all the steam your station loses in normal operations.
But most of all the problem is the second law of thermodynamics. That says that when you turn heat into electricity you have to dump a fair amount of the heat. So you need somewhere to dump the heat. And the key here is that the colder the place you dump the heat, the less heat you dump, and the more efficient the power station.
Finding a nice cold place to dump heat is one of the biggest problems. The best place to dump heat is a chilly bit of ocean. So "by the sea" is a much better choice than "down the high street". Failing ready access to the sea, big rivers can be OK. If you have neither, you're gonna have to build some gigantic cooling towers which will belch out clouds of water vapour all day and won't sit well next to Jones The Butcher.
Then there's all that about pollution. There used to be lots of power stations in London, but they're mostly gone now because of the Clean Air Act which saved thousands of lives. Right now our pollution concern isn't so much local, but global. But back then it was definitely local. Prevailing winds from the west - that's why the "east end" of most UK cities is the poor bit - people lived in a cloud of smoke at that end, so the houses were cheap.
2006-09-20 05:44:20 · answer #2 · answered by wild_eep 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They used to be (e.g. Battersea Power Station in London), but it's a lot cheaper these days to build out in the country (and there's more room to spread out).
Also, current methods of electricity generation tend to be highly polluting (power stations burning e.g. coal, oil or gas), or have a dubious safety record (nuclear power stations), and nobody wants that on their doorstep!
On the other hand, 'renewable' power generators are generally called 'eyesores' by (usually rich) people who don't want wind or solar farms built in their area, because they're afraid the property prices will go down as a result. (The word for this kind of person is 'nimby' i.e. "Not In My Back Yard")
Which is strange, because that doesn't seem to have happened in north (and elsewhere in) Germany, where there are wind turbines in just about every second field. And I have to say, they look (and sound and smell) a lot prettier than a huge power station belching out clouds of smoke and steam. IMHO
2006-09-20 05:49:34 · answer #3 · answered by tjs282 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Several reasons.
1. The real estate values in cities would make it expensive to build there.
2. Security and safety - if something went bang you take the city with you.
3. Logistics. Depending on the fuel (i.e. coal) you need to ship a lot of fuel to the power station and that would be difficult through a city's roads.
Will that do as a start?
2006-09-20 05:36:11 · answer #4 · answered by stevensontj 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In addition to fumes, danger to the community, room required for expansion and noise pollution, there is also the visual impact from the large number of pylons
2006-09-20 05:43:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the land in cities are to expensive to build on.
2006-09-20 07:44:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
because there isn't enough land, and its cheaper when in the countryside, and they can build lots of big metal poles to spread the electricity to and from
2006-09-20 05:53:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
because they produce fumes harmful to city life...
2006-09-20 05:38:42 · answer #8 · answered by Felix 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No room
2006-09-20 05:35:09 · answer #9 · answered by Dave 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no one uses science in the real world, you'll be fine!!!
2006-09-20 05:34:00 · answer #10 · answered by jonny Atlantis 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋