Cogeneration: a Part of the Energy Solution
In the late 1970s, John Gofman, co-inventor of plutonium, had second thoughts about his work with nuclear power over the years. He authored a book entitled Irrevy, in which he argued that the use of nuclear power for electrical production amounted to a bad tradeoff of inefficient and expensive power generation for an insoluble toxic waste problem and generations upon generations of unknown cancers and genetic defects.
While the portion of domestic electricity currently produced by nuclear energy is marginal, at that time there were quite a few more nuclear power plants and nuclear energy production. A perfect storm of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl together with movies such as The China Syndrome gave impetus to an anti-nuclear movement, of which, Gofman was a pre-eminent spokesman, which changed all of that.
Now, as the nation faces an energy crisis, not just of gas lines, but of all energy production, the idea of re-introducing nuclear energy with a vengeance has emerged. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Republican candidate John McCain proposed building 50 new nuclear plants. As the electorate starts to forget why the moratorium on nuclear plants in the US went into effect in the first place and embraces the simplistic argument that 80% of France’s electricity is produced by nuclear plants, it becomes more imperative that we not only examine Gofman’s objections to the ‘nuclear option,’ but take a look at some of the alternatives he proposed.
One alternative he proposed was cogeneration, an energy source that Gofman estimated could supply as much as 40% of domestic energy needs. While cogeneration is not a well known concept in the United States, whole cities in Europe were designed with cogeneration in mind.
Cogeneration is the process of using otherwise wasted energy (mostly heat energy) to produce electricity or for other useful purposes. Cogeneration is more of an energy conservation strategy than a source of renewable energy, since it is basically using energy that has already been created more efficiently. Currently cogeneration is estimated to be producing 10% of the nation’s electricity.
Cogeneration is sometimes called Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and is a proven technology that has been around a long time. The first cogeneration plant was also the nation’s first commercial power plant, built by Thomas Edison in New York in 1882.
In most heat engines between slightly more than half to two thirds of the total energy produced by the engine is wasted excess heat. Cogeneration.net estimates that the average efficiency of fossil fueled power plants in the US is between 30 and 33 percent. Using cogeneration the efficiency of conventional power plants can be dramatically increased, for example from between 40 and 50% to between 80-90%.
Conventional power plants emit the heat created as a byproduct of electrical generation through cooling towers or other means. Cogeneration captures the byproduct heat either close to the plant or, as in some European nations, distributed through pipes for home heating uses. According to Wikipedia, the steam system in the world, Con Edison, produces 30 billion pounds of steam each year at its seven cogeneration plants and pumps it to 100,000 buildings in Manhattan.
Because there is a substantial variety of industrial processes that create heat there is no one typical cogeneration facility. Examples of different cogeneration facilities are therefore, quite extensive.
For example a thermally enhanced oil recovery plant in Kern County, California produces enough excess electricity that it produces more than enough for local use and transmits the surplus to Los Angeles. Other cogeneration plants are fueled by biomass and/or municipal and industrial waste.
A number of universities have initiated cogeneration projects, most notably MIT. The MIT project is a 10-year $40 million project that MIT hopes will enable it to generate all of its own electricity and heat using the waste heat of a gas turbine. MIT estimates it will also reduce greenhouse emissions by 45% over the technology it replaces.
On a smaller scale “micro-congeneration” is gaining popularity. Consisting of a small cogeneration plant located in either a home or small business (or both for home businesses), the
technology can be adapted to almost any situation.
Basically instead of burning fuel solely for heating purposes, a portion of that energy is also used to generate electricity. Generators that can be used for micro-cogeneration can run the gamut from microturbines and internal combustion engines, to Stirling engines, closed cycle steam engines and fuel cells.
While the portion of domestic electricity currently produced by nuclear energy is marginal, at that time there were quite a few more nuclear power plants and nuclear energy production. A perfect storm of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl together with movies such as The China Syndrome gave impetus to an anti-nuclear movement, of which, Gofman was a pre-eminent spokesman, which changed all of that.
Now, as the nation faces an energy crisis, not just of gas lines, but of all energy production, the idea of re-introducing nuclear energy with a vengeance has emerged. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Republican candidate John McCain proposed building 50 new nuclear plants. As the electorate starts to forget why the moratorium on nuclear plants in the US went into effect in the first place and embraces the simplistic argument that 80% of France’s electricity is produced by nuclear plants, it becomes more imperative that we not only examine Gofman’s objections to the ‘nuclear option,’ but take a look at some of the alternatives he proposed.
One alternative he proposed was cogeneration, an energy source that Gofman estimated could supply as much as 40% of domestic energy needs. While cogeneration is not a well known concept in the United States, whole cities in Europe were designed with cogeneration in mind.
Cogeneration is the process of using otherwise wasted energy (mostly heat energy) to produce electricity or for other useful purposes. Cogeneration is more of an energy conservation strategy than a source of renewable energy, since it is basically using energy that has already been created more efficiently. Currently cogeneration is estimated to be producing 10% of the nation’s electricity.
Cogeneration is sometimes called Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and is a proven technology that has been around a long time. The first cogeneration plant was also the nation’s first commercial power plant, built by Thomas Edison in New York in 1882.
In most heat engines between slightly more than half to two thirds of the total energy produced by the engine is wasted excess heat. Cogeneration.net estimates that the average efficiency of fossil fueled power plants in the US is between 30 and 33 percent. Using cogeneration the efficiency of conventional power plants can be dramatically increased, for example from between 40 and 50% to between 80-90%.
Conventional power plants emit the heat created as a byproduct of electrical generation through cooling towers or other means. Cogeneration captures the byproduct heat either close to the plant or, as in some European nations, distributed through pipes for home heating uses. According to Wikipedia, the steam system in the world, Con Edison, produces 30 billion pounds of steam each year at its seven cogeneration plants and pumps it to 100,000 buildings in Manhattan.
Because there is a substantial variety of industrial processes that create heat there is no one typical cogeneration facility. Examples of different cogeneration facilities are therefore, quite extensive.
For example a thermally enhanced oil recovery plant in Kern County, California produces enough excess electricity that it produces more than enough for local use and transmits the surplus to Los Angeles. Other cogeneration plants are fueled by biomass and/or municipal and industrial waste.
A number of universities have initiated cogeneration projects, most notably MIT. The MIT project is a 10-year $40 million project that MIT hopes will enable it to generate all of its own electricity and heat using the waste heat of a gas turbine. MIT estimates it will also reduce greenhouse emissions by 45% over the technology it replaces.
On a smaller scale “micro-congeneration” is gaining popularity. Consisting of a small cogeneration plant located in either a home or small business (or both for home businesses), the
technology can be adapted to almost any situation.
Basically instead of burning fuel solely for heating purposes, a portion of that energy is also used to generate electricity. Generators that can be used for micro-cogeneration can run the gamut from microturbines and internal combustion engines, to Stirling engines, closed cycle steam engines and fuel cells.
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