A review is presented of the issues associated with the generation of large
-volume, high-pressure, nonequilibrium plasmas, as well as the approaches t
hat have been developed for generating these plasmas using electrical disch
arges in gases. The various instabilities that have been overcome to obtain
ed these plasmas as well as the techniques for quenching them are also revi
ewed. Last, recent efforts to obtain atmospheric pressure plasmas are discu
ssed with particular emphasis on the capillary plasma electrode discharge,
which we have used to obtain high (electron) density nonequilibrium plasmas
.