Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal — Owners, Developers & Managers — August 30 - September 12, 2013 — 7B
www.marejournal.com
B UILDING S ERVICES & S UPPLIERS
ow does CHP technol- ogy stack up against solar and wind sys- By Dale Desmarais, Aegis Energy Services, Inc. Combined heat and power systems gain steam in race for renewable solutions H
Wind power also offers a low cost per watt hour but is also heavily reliant on location. Towering can be expensive and in many cases there are entire organizations that sprout up to fight against wind turbines for aesthetic reasons. Solar power can be used almost anywhere and the low- maintenance systems enjoy long life-spans with fairly predictable outputs. There are no moving parts and the operation of solar panels is silent and unobtrusive. Comparatively, wind energy
typically lacks the density of solar radiation, requiring large numbers of turbines to gener- ate useful amounts of heat or electricity. However, solar is intermittent (overcast days, nighttime) and large-scale projects require supplemental energy supplies. Both wind and solar energy do not have the ability to store excess en- ergy when not needed. Although some may not consider Combined Heat and Power as “green” as wind or solar because it uses clean natural gas to create energy
sources, it is a very real solu- tion for reducing green house gas emissions and significantly reducing energy costs. Also, Combined Heat and Power has several advantages over these renewable sources. The average capacity factor is higher for CHP than solar or wind because it isn’t intermit- tent. The annual amount of electricity generated is higher and the amount of space a modular, on-site system takes up is smaller than the wind turbines or solar panels needed to generate similar savings.
A recent New York Times article states “of all the types of energy embraced by the green community, Combined Heat and Power probably has the clunkiest name.” While that may be true (and the ar- ticle does go on to endorse the technology), CHP systems like the ones pioneered by Aegis Energy Systems, Inc., may pro- vide the most cost-effective and efficient way to take part in the green energy initiative. Dale Desmarais is sales manager at Aegis Energy Services, Inc. ■
tems?
Aegis En- ergy Servic- es, Inc has beenadvocat- ing for green energy solu- tions since its founding in 1985, pro- moting the
Dale Desmarais
use of Combined Heat and Power systems, also known as CHP or cogeneration as a way to create energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint. CHP is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat from a single fuel source. The technology isn’t exactly new. Cogeneration was at the core of the world’s first com- mercial power plant, designed by Thomas Edison in 1882 to provide heat and electricity to Lower Manhattan. The EPA recognizes CHP as a green technology because by capturing and utilizing heat that would otherwise be wasted from the production of electricity, CHP systems require less fuel than equiva- lent separate heat and power systems to produce the same amount of energy. Because less fuel is combust- ed, greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), as well as criteria air pollut- ants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), are reduced. While stalwarts like solar and wind, and to a lesser extent hydro, seem to be the darling of the green energy sector, pull- ing in headlines, federal and state subsidies, and celebrity endorsements, Combined Heat and Power is turning out to be “the little engine that could” in the race for renewable energy solutions. So just how does this tech- nology stand up against other renewable sources as the race to reduce energy costs heats up? All of the renewable sources of energy have benefits and drawbacks. Hydropower will typically offer the lowest cost per watt hour but for obvious reasons may not be viable in many locations because of the lack of resources, namely, moving water. Also, initial costs could be prohibitive due to the moving of dirt or dam- building.
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