peaker plant n.— «Our natural gas fueled electricity generating facilities are commonly referred to as “peaker” plants. Our plants are used to balance unexpected short term surges in demand, making them critical to the reliability, or “insurance,”...
bullet line n.— «There’s a lot of talk about the bullet line in Juneau these days. Now we even have a bullet line czar that Gov. Sarah Palin has designated to ramrod the project—Harry Noah, a veteran and capable state official. “Bullet line” is the...
sputtering n.— «Metal ion creation in the semiconductor industry relies on a technique called sputtering. Traditional sputtering relies on a gas such as argon being heated to plasma and then contained by a magnetic field between a layer of metal...
We’re continuing our look at some of the words of the year of 2008 with words related to automobiles.
fuel poor adj.— «It is estimated that by Christmas 6m households will be defined as “fuel poor”—spending more than 10% of their income on gas and electricity. The prospect of the government fulfilling its 2001 pledge to eradicate fuel poverty now...
tight gas n.— «Shell has agreed to pay almost C$6bn ( £3bn) for a small Canadian gas company heavily involved in the production of difficult-to- exploit gas reserves. The price for Calgary-based Duvernay Oil, founded just seven years ago, surprised...
