Cogeneration News

                    US EPA Proposes Rules to Encourage Cogeneration 
 
October 16, 2001 

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules yesterday to encourage U.S. manufacturing and industrial plants to use cogeneration, a more efficient technology for generating electricity. 

The planned rules, which would amend the federal Clean Air Act, would make it faster and easier for companies to build combined heat and power facilities, otherwise known as cogeneration. 

Cogeneration harnesses steam and heat that would otherwise be discarded as waste from conventional power plants and redirects it into other energy-intensive processes like heating or cooling buildings. Conventional power plants are 30 to 50 percent energy efficient - meaning the rest of the heat is lost as waste. Cogeneration plants are 70 to 80 percent efficient, the EPA said in a statement. 

A White House national energy policy report released earlier this year highlighted cogeneration as a way to increase U.S. energy efficiency and conserve supplies. The EPA proposal would speed up the permitting of new cogeneration plants, and provide "regulatory certainty" to spur new construction. It also outlined how new cogeneration plants will be treated under a key portion of the Clean Air Act known as the "new source review" which sets requirements utilities must meet to add new generation capacity to reduce air-based pollutants. EPA's cogeneration promotion program was endorsed by 17 firms, including Archer Daniels Midland , Bethlehem Steel , Caterpillar Inc.'s energy products group, Dow Chemical and Exxon Mobil Corp. . EPA said it was still formulating a full-scale emission plan for emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury by power plants. That plan could figure into a push by the Democrat-controlled Senate Energy committee to impose stricter limits on utilities' air pollution. 

      Meehan Legislation to Spur Cogeneration Energy Technology Broad Support for Innovative, Efficient, and Environmentally Friendly Technology

May 22, 2001

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Reps. Marty Meehan (D-MA) and Jack Quinn (R-NY) have joined U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and James Jeffords (R-VT) in introducing bipartisan, bicameral legislation to promote the use of highly efficient combined heat and power (CHP) - or cogeneration - energy technologies. Meehan and Quinn are the co-Chairs of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition. 

"We need innovative, efficient, and environmentally friendly solutions to our short- and long-term energy needs," said Meehan. "Cogeneration promises greater energy efficiency and reduced emissions. It's a win-win for businesses and the environment - exactly what we need right now." 

Cogeneration is an environmentally and economically sound method of recycling heat produced during the course of electricity generation by gas-fueled turbines typically located at factories and universities. Without cogeneration, the "waste" heat produced during electricity generation would otherwise be vented to the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gases, and a boiler flame would be needed to generate heat for the facility. 

Cogeneration heat recovery systems - which may involve placing a high temperature water heater in line with the exhaust of a gas-fueled turbine - recover excess thermal energy and permit it to be used productively. 

Cogeneration systems produce considerably lower total emissions than separate power and heat systems not capturing waste heat. 

Furthermore, they are more efficient than systems which secure electricity through expensive power lines that lose significant amounts of energy during the course of transmission and heat boilers that function at only 50 percent efficiency. 

The Quinn-Meehan/Clinton-Jeffords bill would ensure that eligible owners of cogeneration systems receive fair and reasonable rates for connecting to the electrical power grid. This is a critical issue for facilities that are using or considering using cogeneration technologies - for securing back-up power from the electrical grid would be necessary in the event a cogeneration device is shut down for maintenance. 

The bill would also provide a tax incentive to encourage the installation of energy efficient cogeneration systems. The bill was drafted in consultation with a broad array of environmental and energy groups. 

Cogeneration has earned a broad array of support, including a recommendation in President Bush's Energy plan for the EPA Administrator to promote CHP use as well as a possible CHP investment tax credit. In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lawrence's Malden Mills are among the facilities that employ cogeneration technology. U.S. Congressman Marty Meehan represents the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts. He serves as the Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Northeast/Midwest Congressional Coalition and the Manufacturing Task Force.

 

President Bush delivered his speech on energy at District Energy, in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 17th.  He also toured their new state of the art cogeneration facility. 

District Energy St. Paul Welcomed President George W. Bush!

From left to right: Rob Thornton, IDEA; Anders Rydaker, District Energy St. Paul; Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham; President George W. Bush; EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman; Jim Rogers, Cinergy; St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and Mike Burns, District Energy St. Paul. Photos courtesy of Dave Urke, District Energy St. Paul. For a reference, see www.districtenergy.org

This new power plant “is a model of energy efficiency,” said President Bush. “It is also a model of energy diversity. It uses conventional fuels like oil and natural gas and coal, and renewable fuels like wood chips. And the plant is a model of affordability. While other energy prices rise, District Energy has not raised its heating and cooling rates in four years.” For more information on President Bush's comments on cogeneration, see District Energy's press release.

 

U.S. Power Generation Forecast (2000 - 2003)

According to the EIA, by year-end (2000), 22,380 MW (mega watts) of new turbine capacity will have been added to the U.S. generation fleet at a cost of nearly $10 billion US dollars.  

Dominated by combustion turbines and combined-cycle units, the total represents a record amount of turbine construction for a one-year period.  

Yet this number pales compared to new generation coming on-line over the next three years.  

Projections for new turbine capacity in 2001 is more than 53,000 MW, with an additional 70,000 MW being added in 2002 and 67,000 MW coming on line in 2003.