# What and where are these smokestacks pictured **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303 "2011-10-30T19:34:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/1 "2011-10-30T19:34:55Z")
Don’t want to discuss the article it’s attached too I’m sure you can in the pit or great debates. I just saw the picture which I’m sure I’ve seen before and out of curiosity wanted to know where it’s a picture of. [![](https://i.huffpost.com/gen/389835/thumbs/r-RICHARD-MUELLER-GLOBAL-WARMING-large570.jpg) ](https://i.huffpost.com/gen/389835/thumbs/r-RICHARD-MUELLER-GLOBAL-WARMING-large570.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/2 "2011-10-30T19:43:22Z")
Looks like nuclear reactor cooling towers to me, but there sure are a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/3 "2011-10-30T20:02:48Z")
doesn’t have to be a nuclear power plant, cooling towers like that can be found at any kind of power plant; especially ones not adjacent to a major body of water. [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ferrybridge_power_station.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ferrybridge_power_station.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/4 "2011-10-30T20:11:27Z")
I suppose his pit reference could be nuclear or coal. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/5 "2011-10-30T20:14:25Z")
From google searching "nine cooling towers,“pressebilder/2009/energy/072dpi/SOE200910-09\_072dpi.jpg”]Janschwalde coal plant in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/6 "2011-10-30T20:14:45Z")
I found the article, but I cheated and it doesn’t say what they cool. Never mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/7 "2011-10-30T21:18:42Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > From google searching "nine cooling towers,“pressebilder/2009/energy/072dpi/SOE200910-09\_072dpi.jpg”]Janschwalde coal plant in Germany. It doesn’t look like a coal plant to me. There are no chimneys and no coalyard visible. I’m pretty sure it’s a nuclear plant, but that wouldn’t fit in with the “global warming” in the title of the picture. Just to correct the title of the thread, those are not smokestacks. The clouds you see coming out of the cooling towers are water. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/8 "2011-10-30T21:34:34Z")
My last post was wrong. I looked at [Jänschwalde](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.832357,14.465604&spn=0.020023,0.054588&t=h&z=15) on Google Maps and it is indisputably the same plant. Apologies. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/9 "2011-10-30T21:34:50Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > It doesn’t look like a coal plant to me. There are no chimneys and no coalyard visible. > > I’m pretty sure it’s a nuclear plant, but that wouldn’t fit in with the “global warming” in the title of the picture. > Just to correct the title of the thread, those are not smokestacks. The clouds you see coming out of the cooling towers are water. It’s a Huffington Post article, so I wouldn’t expect the picture to necessarily be accurate for the article . They regularly grab Getty Images that have little to do with their articles, I don’t think it’s something their staff spends a lot of time on. I assume they throw in a few search parameters and go with the best looking picture to catch clicks. My first thought was nuclear plant but I’ve never seen one with so many towers. I always associate the number of towers with the number of reactors, in that case it would be nine. I know of no plants that have that many reactors. Probably not an accurate assessment but fight my ignorance, that’s why I started the thread. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/10 "2011-10-30T21:42:48Z")
Yeah that’s the place. [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Janschwalde&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=G8OtTtrELabt0gGSz7m8Dw&sa=X&oi=mode\_link&ct=mode&cd=3&ved=0CAoQ\_AUoAg](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Janschwalde&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=G8OtTtrELabt0gGSz7m8Dw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=3&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg) The plant is south west of town. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/11 "2011-10-30T22:13:35Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > From google searching "nine cooling towers,“pressebilder/2009/energy/072dpi/SOE200910-09\_072dpi.jpg”]Janschwalde coal plant in Germany. Oops, sorry about that link. It should have been this image: [Press | Company | Siemens](http://www.siemens.com/press/pool/de/pressebilder/2009/energy/072dpi/SOE200910-09_072dpi.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-and-where-are-these-smokestacks-pictured/601303/12 "2011-10-30T22:47:58Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Just to correct the title of the thread, those are not smokestacks. The clouds you see coming out of the cooling towers are water. Good Lord, yes. 🙂