Terms
What is Cogeneration?
Cogeneration – is the simultaneous production of power/electricity, hot water, and/or steam from one fuel. Cogeneration plants can reach system efficiencies exceeding 60%. Cogeneration, a term originally coined by President Jimmy Carter while he was in office, has also been referred to as: district energy, cogen, combined heating and power, CHP, cooling, heating and power and total energy. Cogeneration is an energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly method of producing electricity (power), steam and/or hot water at the same time, in one process, with one fuel. Fuels used in cogeneration include natural gas, fuel oil, propane, bio-mass, bio-waste, and renewable energies such as wood, or wood waste. More and more companies are finding cogeneration the best way to provide power and thermal energy for their on-site energy requirements due to the numerous advantages and benefits.
Typical power plants waste up to 75% of the original fuel through heat loss, line transmission losses and other inefficiencies.
A cogeneration or trigeneration plant "captures" the wasted heat energy that would have been lost in and essentially triples the energy efficiencies of ordinary power plants. Because of this, cogeneration and trigeneration power plants are environmentally friendly as they substantially cut carbon dioxide emissions (and other greenhouse gases) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Although the prime movers (gas turbines, engines and microturbines) use fossil fuel, they can cut CO2 emissions by up to 70% vs a coal plant when utilized in a cogeneration or trigeneration plant. Nearly 100% cuts in SOx are possible.
Whether you choose cogeneration or trigeneration for your company’s onsite power needs, either choice is a positive step forward in energy efficiency, energy independence and improving our environment.
Power made from your own on-site cogeneration or trigeneration power plant yields the following benefits:
- conservation of our environment and limited energy resources
- energy independence from foreign suppliers & "local" power (utility) companies
- A cleaner, greener, healthier environment
- Significant savings on your total energy expenses… up to 50% in many applications!
- NO MORE BLACK-OUTS!
"Growing Support for Cogeneration"
Cogeneration is not the latest energy industry buzz-word… cogeneration power plants have been around for over 100 years – few people realize the very first power plant was actually a cogeneration plant designed and built by Thomas Edison in New York in 1882!! With the countless numbers of cogeneration success stories, from around the world, it’s no wonder that "cogeneration is now on-line for a global power surge."
The Sierra Club supports energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly, total energy (cogeneration). See Sierra Club Conservation Policies, as adopted by their Board of Directors January 20-21, 1973.
The Department of Energy has issued the Cogeneration Challenge Program to double the amount of power generated in the U.S. by cogeneration power plants from the present 6% (or 50 gigawatts) to 12% (or 100 gigawatts) by the year 2010.
What is Trigeneration?
Trigeneration – with system efficiencies up to 50% greater than "cogeneration," is the simultaneous production of power/electricity, hot water and/or steam, and chilled water from one fuel. Basically, a trigeneration power plant is a cogeneration power plant that has added absorption chillers for producing chilled water from the heat that would have been wasted from a cogeneration power plant. Trigeneration plants can reach system efficiencies that exceed 90%. In addition to the economic benefits and advantages, trigeneration plants reduce our dependence on foreign energy supplies and help our environment by dramatically reducing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide – when compared to typical power plants.
Trigeneration has been hailed the "hat-trick of the energy industry" with system efficiencies approaching and exceeding 90%.
Trigeneration plants are very energy efficient, conserve natural resources and reduce fuel consumption as the system operates at such high efficiencies.
