Oct. 27, 2011: Combined Heat and Power Market Growth Varies From State to State
WASHINGTON — The combined heat and power (CHP) market is growing unevenly in different states, and will require more efforts than just supportive policies to achieve greater deployment, according to a new report released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The report, “Challenges Facing Combined Heat and Power Today: A State-by-State Assessment,” profiles CHP markets in each state and identifies which elements of the market are encouraging or discouraging CHP developers.
CHP, sometimes known as cogeneration, produces both electricity and thermal energy from a single fuel input and provides highly efficient energy by maximizing the energy value of various fuels. CHP is said to produce energy twice as efficiently as standard centralized energy generation. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports that CHP provides over 12 percent of U.S. electricity generation. Since 2005, over 1,700 MW of capacity has been added due to new CHP system deployment, but that deployment has been unevenly distributed around the country.