Fuel facts

Geothermal energy in the u.s.

Geothermal energy currently provides more than 2,700 megawatts of electricity nationwide - the equivalent of three nuclear power plants, or enough to power more than 3.5 million homes. A geothermal power plant emits no nitrogen oxides, very few sulfur dioxides and 1,000 to 2,000 times less carbon dioxide than a fossil fuel plant.

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• energy production facts
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Why laughing gas isn't funny any more

It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anaesthetic and analgesic effects, where it is commonly known as laughing gas due to the euphoric effects of inhaling it. It is also used as a means to enable short periods of extreme high performance in automobile internal combustion engines by introducing extra oxygen into the intake charge which in turn allows a greater amount of fuel to be added and converted into energy and thereby greatly increasing the power produced by the engine. Nitrous oxide is present in the atmosphere where it acts as a powerful greenhouse gas.

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• climate change facts

One of the most important animals in the food chain of the marine ecosystem

The lowly krill averages only about two inches (5 centimeters) in length, but it represents a giant-sized link in the global food chain. These small, shrimp-like crustaceans are essentially the fuel that runs the engine of the Earth’s marine ecosystems.

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• krill facts