Policy Makers/Planners

CHP has strong support from the Bush Administration. The Administration's National Energy Plan encourages research and development efforts on next-generation energy technology. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has described the Administration's goal as making CHP technology the "preferred system for commercial buildings by 2020."

The DOE and industry partners have and will continue to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in new energy efficient CHP technologies, with the intent of meeting growing electrical demand with – clean, reliable, and secure energy choices. Many of these technologies and systems are commercially available today.

CHP Regional Application Centers

The DOE has created six CHP Regional Application Centers (RACs). The objective of creating RACs is to ensure that CHP technologies are deployed by working with targeted markets on a State-by-State and regional basis to educate market players on the benefits of CHP technologies while reducing the perceived risk, and providing project specific support. In addition, these RACs will provide a valuable feedback loop to DOE and industry regarding future R&DD program needs.

According to the National CHP Roadmap, available here in PDF format, the goal of the RACs is to double the amount of CHP installed capacity in the United States by the year 2010 (utilizing 1999 as the base year). This translates to the equivalent of 46,000 MW of new CHP capacity.

Each RAC will provide essential and appropriate applied research and development support, focused on the technology transfer and deployment of advanced CHP technologies. The RACs will achieve this objective through a strategy of targeted education and outreach as well as project technical assistance. A copy of the guidebook is available here in PDF format, or from the library section of this Website. The guidebook has been developed to specify the work scope for and provide standards for developing and implementing each RAC. The guidebook will ensure some consistency in structure and operation as the concept grows throughout the country.

In April 2001, the DOE, through Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), established the first pilot RAC to serve the Midwest and is located at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This pilot RAC developed and proved the Regional Application Center processes. The Center is a partnership between the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Gas Technology Institute. In September 2003, DOE/ORNL established five additional RACs. The regions and the states covered by these centers are shown in the following map. DOE might consider additional RACs in the future. A recent (December 2003) overview presentation on the RACs is available here in PDF format.

Partnership with Industry

In June 2001, Secretary Abraham announced the "First Generation" Packaged Cooling, Heating and Power Systems for Buildings awards. Contracts of $18.5 million were negotiated with seven industry teams for research, development and testing of new, first generation packaged CHP systems for commercial and institutional buildings.

Modular or packaged CHP systems for buildings are a breakthrough in energy efficiency. According to DOE officials, integrated CHP systems can offer up to a 30-40 percent improvement in a building's energy efficiency over today's best practices, leading to reduced energy and demand charges for building owners.

For better interoperability and marketability, CHP component manufacturers need to create systems that physically fit the generation and heating/cooling/dehumidification components together, match power and thermal loads within the system, and communicate effectively between components within the system and with external energy control devices.

Ronald Fiskum, a Program Manager for DOE's Office of Distributed Energy Resources, says, "In the near future, CHP for Buildings systems will be engineered in the factory—instead of in the field." Designing plug-and-play systems for CHP systems is critical to reducing the time and effort required to integrate system components. Universal connection standards would greatly simplify installation and maintenance-and encourage acceptance of the technology by the architectural and engineering community. Simplified, pre-engineered, skid-mounted CHP equipment would make building owners responsible only for connecting power, piping, or ducting. Controls may be connected to a local network, permitting onsite personnel to operate the equipment directly from a desktop PC. Visit the Program Partners section of this website for more information.

State and Local Policies

State and local policies and regulations regarding the deregulation of electricity and distributed generation have an effect on the installation and financial feasibility of CHP. Restrictive permitting or long delays in obtaining permits can dissuade building owners from installing CHP. High exit and/or interconnection fees, and standby electric rate structures can be financial disincentives for CHP. Some States, such as Texas, have made progress to set policies that are CHP friendly by promoting standard interconnection requirements and fees, and setting reasonable goals for time limits on studies. As more States move toward electrical deregulation and distributed generation becomes an integral part of the electrical infrastructure, policies and regulations should support CHP becoming the "preferred system" for buildings. Visit the Policies and Regulations section of this website for more information.

Because of the higher energy efficiency, the CHP systems have the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45%. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, CHP systems could reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 million metric tons of carbon if goals to double U.S. installed CHP capacity by 2015 were met.

This advanced technology integration requires a new application of existing technical expertise and cooperation between government, academia, and industry.