Getting power from pellets in pop-up planetarium show

IT is part planetarium, part bouncy castle. An inflatable replica of the giant biomass storage domes at Drax power station, near Selby, with a mobile cinema inside, had its first school visitors yesterday.
Ten year-olds Imogen Snowden and George Alderman at Carlton-in-Snaith primary school enjoy the new pop up planetarium developed by Drax. 
Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeTen year-olds Imogen Snowden and George Alderman at Carlton-in-Snaith primary school enjoy the new pop up planetarium developed by Drax. 
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
Ten year-olds Imogen Snowden and George Alderman at Carlton-in-Snaith primary school enjoy the new pop up planetarium developed by Drax. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Pupils from Carlton-in-Snaith Primary, a mile from Drax, saw a 360-degree film projected on to the dome walls and ceiling as they were given a virtual tour of the site and its operations.

The “pop up planetarium” was developed by Drax to support teaching in science, technology, engineering and maths.

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It was the idea of the station’s visitor centre manager, Rachael Baldwin, who wanted an innovative way to reach more school children.

She said: “We’ve gone to great lengths to create a real wow factor for the children.

“We hope to reach 25,000 school pupils with the dome this year.”

The dome, 15ft high and 23ft wide, can accommodate around 30 pupils at a time.

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Part of the Drax station has been upgraded to run on sustainable biomass in place of coal. It now produces 16 per cent of the country’s renewable electricity.

Chief executive Andy Koss said: “As well as inviting schools to the power station to show pupils how energy is generated, we are now bringing the power station to schools.”

The video, created by a Skipton firm, uses animation, 3D models and aerial footage to show how electricity is made from the compressed wood pellets that have replaced coal in half of Drax’s generating units.