An overview concerning combined heat and power production: a smart way to improve energy efficiency

Sigrid Kusch

Abstract


Cogeneration power plants simultaneously generate power and usable heat in a single, integrated system, which achieves a degree of overall efficiency that is much greater compared to electricity production alone. This makes better use of energy conversion and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Combined heat and power production is already relatively common in Europe while it is less common, for example, in the USA. There is great potential for further implementation throughout Europe and worldwide, including in the industrial sector. Major challenges are the short potential distances for the transport of heat and the fact that consumers’ heat demands vary in quantity, mainly due to seasonal effects, and in quality as different applications require different temperature levels. Cleaner production schemes offer suitable frameworks to foster uptake of combined heat and power production by industry, in particular by small and medium sized enterprises.

Keywords


energy efficiency; CHP; cogeneration; heat; electricity; cleaner production

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12896/cse20150020070

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CSE Journal - City Safety Energy is a semiannual journal (Two ISSUES per Year) published by Le Penseur in Brienza (PZ) - Italy | ISSN print edition 2283-8767 | ISSN online edition 2284-3418 - Journal registerd at the Court of Potenza (Italy) n. 219/2014