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NEW PARTNERSHIP PROMOTES ENERGY-SAVING ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL ELECTRICITY GENERATION

Release Date: 10/15/2001
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Environmental News

FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2001

NEW PARTNERSHIP PROMOTES ENERGY-SAVING ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL ELECTRICITY GENERATION

As a follow-up to recommendations to promote the use of combined heat and power in President Bush’s National Energy Policy Report, EPA joined with 17 Fortune 500 companies, city and state governments and nonprofits in Washington, D.C. today to announce the Combined Heat and Power Partnership, a more efficient, clean and reliable alternative to conventional electricity generation.

Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as co-generation, is a highly efficient form of electric generation, which recycles and utilizes heat that is normally lost under traditional power combustion methods. CHP captures this leftover heat, providing a source of residential and industrial heating and air conditioning in the local area around a power plant.

“Combined Heat and Power is not only better than conventional electricity generation at reducing air pollution and fuel consumption, it’s more reliable and costs less to do so,” said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. “Founding partners in this program are leading the way toward a cleaner future.“

At the kick-off event at EPA Headquarters today, partners in the program agreed to work with the Agency to develop and promote the benefits of new CHP projects. EPA will provide public recognition of projects and benefits to the company, public and the environment. EPA will also support accelerated development of new projects, through education, streamlined permitting and provision of technical tools and services.

In fact, CHP systems are already being used by the 17 founding partners: Abbott Laboratories, Archer Daniels Midland, Bethlehem Steel, Caterpillar Energy Products Group, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil, General Motors, International Paper, Real Energy, Solar Turbines, Texaco Power and Gasification International, Trigen Energy, U.S. Steel, Verizon Communications and Weyerhaeuser, the College of New Jersey in Ewing, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Partnership also includes “endorsing” organizations: Gas Technology Institute, International District Energy Association, Midwest Application Center for CHP for Buildings, Midwest Cogeneration Association, Northeast-Midwest Institute, and the U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is also a partner.

These existing CHP projects of the founding partners represent more than 5,800 megawatts of power generating capacity, an amount capable of serving almost six million households (about the size of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area). The projects annually reduce the main global warming gas, carbon dioxide, by more than 8 million tons above what would achieved from traditional generation methods; in addition, the annual energy savings equal 19 million barrels of oil more than would be attained under conventional combustion. Today’s kick-off event is followed by the National CHP Roadmap Workshop Oct. 16-17 at the Pier 5 Hotel in Baltimore, Md., sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, EPA and the U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association. The workshop addresses strategies to accelerate use of CHP systems throughout the United States.

In addition to establishing the CHP Partnership, EPA is working to implement several other actions to promote co-generation in the United States. EPA will be publishing soon in the Federal Register draft guidance clarifying the Clean Air Act requirements for constructing CHP facilities, to speed permitting and ensure that environmental benefits are fully realized. In another action, EPA will evaluate CHP applications under its Brownfields program. Brownfields helps communities to reduce the potential health risks and restore the economic viability of abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial properties. By the end of the year, EPA will put up a special website for Combined Heat and Power Partnership.

For additional information, contact Joe Bryson at 202- 564-9631 ([email protected])


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