• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Initiative Encourages Policymakers to Consider Combined Heat and Power in Texas' Energy Future

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 March 2007, 18:00 CST

The Texas Combined Heat & Power Initiative (TXCHPI) is broadening its efforts to bring combined heat and power technologies to the forefront of discussions about Texas' energy future.

In its recently published whitepaper, TXCHPI identified several actions state legislators should take to encourage greater use of combined heat and power (CHP) in Texas, particularly in the commercial and institutional building sectors.

After meeting with key legislators last week, the group's activities will focus on the following key initiatives in the Texas Legislature:

Develop a CHP resource portfolio standard (CHP RPS) requiring an additional 5,000 MW of CHP capacity by 2016 (HB 2178 - Deshotel).

Provide state government support for the Houston Advanced Research Center in its statewide CHP education and outreach program over the next two years.

Encourage CHP through the existing revolving loan program for qualified projects at public facilities.

The loan fund for CHP facilities would be administered by the State Energy Conservation Office under the LoanSTAR program. Loans would be repaid through energy savings. Projects that qualify would be at state government and special district buildings, including hospitals, nursing homes, college campuses and prisons, as well as regional emergency response centers.

"In light of recent events with questionable types of energy production, we should explore all existing options. Combined heat and power is a proven source of energy that has great potential to expand, and my proposal offers such an opportunity," Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont) said.

"It is time for Texas to realize the energy security that combined heat and power offers our critical infrastructure," TXCHPI Executive Director Rich Herweck added. "Natural or man-made disasters do not affect CHP's reliability. There is no other technology that provides onsite base load energy with efficiency in the 70-90 percent range."

According to Joe St. Pierre, chair of TXCHPI board, combined heat and power presents a number of benefits for Texas, including creating more jobs, using domestic energy production, and ensuring energy security.

"If the amount of CHP were doubled over the next 10 years, we would need less than half the proposed central power plants," St. Pierre explained. "We could significantly reduce capital expenditures for electricity transmission because CHP projects all use distributed energy sites located at customer premises."

CHP technologies use engines, turbines and fuel cells to produce power on a customer's site. Then heat recovery technologies boost efficiency by trapping the thermal energy from exhaust streams to operate equipment for cooling, heating, or controlling humidity. By capturing the waste heat, CHP uses less fuel and reduces air emissions for the amount of useful work performed than would a utility power generation station. While the typical efficiency of a central generation is in the 30 percent range, CHP can be as much as 90 percent energy efficient.

The Texas Combined Heat & Power Initiative, a nonprofit organization created in the fall of 2006, champions CHP as the most effective, efficient, and economical environmental energy option for Texas. For more information or to view the whitepaper, visit the initiative's website at www.texaschpi.org or contact Rich Herweck at 972-979-4737 or RichHerweck@SiEnergy.com

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category