Gothamist: Opinionist: Most Informative Email of the Week

Felix

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 09:57:22 -0500

Steam isn't a byproduct of electricity generation -- it's a central part of electricity generation. To the extent that you sell the steam directly, rather than using it to generate electricity, that might be more efficient than converting the steam's thermal energy to electricity, but it does mean you'll be making less electricity.

Mark

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:33:39 -0500

ConEd runs this country's largest district combined heating and cooling system. The largest private system in th US was owned by Suez until they sold it to a hedge fund. There are currently about 50 cities in the US that have district combined heating and cooling systems.

Tugger

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:40:31 -0500

I believe the occasional steam piping above the streets is actually water dripping/streaming onto the steam pipe and quickly condensing into steam, not the pipe busting open itself. I read that somewhere but hell I could be wrong.

jenna

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 14:58:39 -0500

I wondered what the steam pipes were for in the diagram. That is so cool!

Noah

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 13:31:39 -0500

Jake, In this photo you look like one of the characters in the video game half life. http://www.planethalflife.com/screenshot.asp?src=/half-life2/screenshots/05.jpg

majordomo

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:44:51 -0500

Actually, this process is a fairly common practice...and though I'm short on specific examples, you'll surely find this in places all over the world. Just don't expect NYC to be a hotbed of environmental efficiency... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Electric_Power_Plant

dirtgirl

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 10:11:59 -0500

The coolest thing about ConEd steam is that not only can buildings use it for heating, they can use it for cooling. Otherwise they'd have a hard time selling it for over half of the year. The pressure of the steam is used to run compressors that power huge air conditioning systems. This is how most of the large trading floors in the financial industry are cooled. I remember the day after the blackout, even when power was restored in most of the City, the American stock exchange couldn't open on time because it had to borrow a portable steam generator to get its cooling system running again. I think that was because, despite the power restoration, once it's been shut down, it takes a day or so for the pressure to be restored in the city's steam system.

cpchester

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 10:04:26 -0500

I can't beleive that no one has made this connection yet. There is a long discusson on MetaFIlter about the maple syrup smell and...get this....that it came from the ConEd Steam! Look at the middle/end of this thread. http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/46218

cpchester

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 10:03:24 -0500