Most of us are aware of
the benefits of installing a CHP system: increased efficiency, less pollution,
and lower operating costs. For
example, an industrial facility using CHP can ramp up its energy efficiency to
89%, a nice increase from the typical 55% efficiency of most conventional
systems. With those kinds of
savings, it’s no wonder CHP has been a popular “go to” onsite energy source –
but is it popular enough?
Thomas Edison’s first
power station – the 1882 Pearl Street Station – the world’s first commercial
power plant – was a CHP power plant with a 50% efficiency rate. Unfortunately, regulations created
at the turn of the century to promote “rural electrification” and centralized
power utilities severely impacted decentralized power generation, including
CHP. The Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978 (created to encourage efficiency at centralized power
plants) changed all that, but has it been enough?
Currently 8%
of all energy in the US is produced by cogeneration, including
CHP. But what if that percentage
not only increased, but expanded beyond centralized systems to include onsite
power? Could CHP supply 10% of the nation’s energy? More? In 2008, Tom Casten, chairman of the
company Recycled Energy Development, threw down the gauntlet saying, “We
think we could make about 19% to 20% of US electricity with heat that is
currently thrown away by industry.”
A report
by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “Combined Heat and Power: Effective Energy
for a Sustainable Future” lays out the case for increasing energy production via
CHP by 20% with a variety of heartwarming statistics: 60% reduction in carbon
dioxide emissions, a savings of 5.3 quadrillion Btu annually, 1 million new hobs
and $234 billion in new investments.
To me,
this report triggers a couple questions: Can this be done? And if so, can we please start as soon
as possible?
What do
you think, is CHP the future, or just one of many tools in the onsite power tool
box?