While gas-fired power plants are popping up like dandelions across America, just one coal-fired generator was brought on line in the first half of 2012, the EIA reports.

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He would ask one student to use a random-number generator to produce a list of random numbers, all between 1 and 10.

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Or if the gasoline-powered emergency generator came with a true-life story about what happened to the family that had one of these things running indoors?

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The 2013 Volt can travel an average of 38 miles on one full electric charge before its onboard gas-powered electric generator seamlessly switches on.

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The Lexus' whirligig is familiar from the Toyota Camry and Avalon hybrids: a lean-burning Atkinson-cycle, 2.5-liter in-line four-cylinder (156 hp) coupled with two electric motors, one a 141-hp traction motor, the other a starter-generator.

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One of the biggest gainers, generator maker Generac Holdings, already upped its fourth-quarter sales guidance.

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