Power House building, Guinness Brewery, architect F R M Woodhouse, 1948, St. James' Gate, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Europe

Desalinisation plant at the solar energy scientific research centre, Tabernas, Almeria, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

Santa Laura Salpeter mine, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Atacama desert, Chile, South America

Acting as beacons of Western wealth and power, Petrol stations, usually the cleanest, most colourful and well staffed of any facility in Rwanda, regularly facilitate gatherings. Kigali, Rwanda, East Africa

Aerial view of Emden harbour with docks and wharfs, Emden, Lower Saxony, Germany

Sugar mill, Franklin, Louisiana, USA

Smokestacks, cooling towers, ThyssenKrupp Steelworks Hamborn, Schwelgern, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Delivery of steel pipes at the temporary storage facility for the Baltic Sea pipeline, which will transport gas from the Russian town of Wyborg to Greifswald, beginning in 2012, Sassnitz, Ruegen Island, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, Europe

View from Mt. Alsum: the ThyssenKrupp Steelworks Hamborn, Schwelgern, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

View from Mt. Alsum: the ThyssenKrupp Steelworks Hamborn, Schwelgern, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Delivery of steel pipes at the temporary storage facility for the Baltic Sea pipeline, which will transport gas from the Russian town of Wyborg to Greifswald, beginning in 2012, Sassnitz, Ruegen Island, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, Europe

View from Mt. Alsum: the ThyssenKrupp Steelworks Hamborn, Schwelgern, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Tank and terminal facilities of Deutsche BP AG, storage tanks for various petroleum products, port of Gelsenkirchen, at the Rhine-Herne Canal, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Oil tanks, tank building, back light, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe

Ruhr Oel GmbH refinery and A2 motorway, Horst district, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Biogas plant, biomass power plant, with combined heat and power unit, CHP, and an adjacent silo, maize silage

Digestion tanks, sewage work, Emscher wastewater treatment plant, Bottrop, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Coal-fired power plant Duisburg Walsum, at sunset, evening sky, view from Haniel slagheap in Bottrop, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Niederfinow lock facility, Brandenburg, Germany, Europe

LPG tanker leaving the Holtenau lock, Kiel Canal, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe

Tanker, LNG tanker on the Kiel Canal, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe

Tank and terminal facilities of Deutsche BP AG, storage tanks for various petroleum products, port of Gelsenkirchen, at the Rhine-Herne Canal, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Cooling tower of a power station, Duesseldorf, NRW, Germany

MAN Roland, manufacturer of printing systems, production facility in Offenbach, Senefelder Haus, Muehlheim, Hesse, Germany

Aerial view, Feldhausen prison, Extraschicht 2010, night of industrial culture, summer festival of the Kulturhauptstadt Capital of Culture 2010, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhrgebiet area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

MAN Roland, manufacturer of printing systems, production facility in Offenbach, Senefelder Haus, Muehlheim, Hesse, Germany

Tank and terminal facilities of Deutsche BP AG, storage tanks for various petroleum products, port of Gelsenkirchen, at the Rhine-Herne Canal, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

MAN Roland, manufacturer of printing systems, production facility in Offenbach, Senefelder Haus, Muehlheim, Hesse, Germany

An automated, driverless cart shuttles transmission parts from one work station to another at General Motors' Toledo Transmission Facility, Toledo, Ohio, USA

Tank and terminal facilities of Deutsche BP AG, storage tanks for various petroleum products, port of Gelsenkirchen, at the Rhine-Herne Canal, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Transmission facilities on the old chimney of a dilapidated brick factory against the blue sky, Spardorf, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

Transmission parts ready for assembly at General Motors' Toledo Transmission Facility, Toledo, Ohio, USA

Transmission facilities on the old chimney of a dilapidated brick factory against the blue sky, Spardorf, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

Iron ore dressing facility, Kirkenes, Norway, Scandinavia, Europe

Tourists explore the natural salt flats on the shores of Laguna San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, Mexico. In 2000, thanks to national and international pressure, the Mexican government cancelled a joint venture with Mitsubishi subsidiary ESSA (Exportadora de Sal, S.A) to establish the largest industrial salt evaporation facility in the world. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site and part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, the lagoon is the last undeveloped gray whale birthing area on the planet, Mexico

John Siekowski rappels among industrial propane tanks at a facility in Gaviota, California on March 29, 2004. John is a member of the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue. (Photo by Kevin Steele, Aurora)

Man working on a laptop and smart phone with an oil refinery in the background; Alberta, Canada