Overall view of bowen power plant.
Overall view of bowen power plant.
The Georgia power company's plant bowen, a 3200-megawatt coal-fired power plant 40 miles northwest of Atlanta, is the subject of an ongoing study by researchers at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL). The researchers, with the cooperation of georgia power and the plant bowen management, have installed a network of rain gauges and wind-measuring devices within a 30-mile radius of the plant in order to study the possible effects of heat and moisture released from its four cooling towers on rainfall patterns in northwest georgia. The study was initiated because a trend toward larger power plants and the consideration of the concept of future "energy centers" have raised questions about the possible atmospheric effects of power plant cooling systems.
Original public domain image from Flickr