A 38% efficient power plant puts out 850 MW of electrical power. Cooling towers take away the exhaust heat.

(a) If the air temperature is allowed to rise 7.0 C°, estimate what volume of air (km3) is heated per day. Will the local climate be heated significantly?

(b) If the heated air were to form a layer 180 m thick, estimate how large an area it would cover for 24 h of operation. Assume the air has density 1.3 kg/m3 and has specific heat of about 1.0 kJ / kg ∙ C° at constant pressure.