I think of it as a giant electrostatic precipitator like people used to have attached to their furnaces; Derek calls it a large ionizer, while Daan's press release explains: (treehugger.com)
One of the major precipitators of the current political crisis was the passing of the new Constitution, which gave the Indians and «coloured» each a Parliament of their own (about which Thomas More's comment on the Parliament under the Tudor's is most apt: like the male teat, decorative but useless). (religion-online.org)
The introduction of BookCon in 2014 has proved a major precipitator of this change, but it's not the only factor to consider. (ibpa-online.org)