Category: renewable energy

Implementing Combined Heat and Power Projects
CHP · Cogeneration · Conservation · Efficiency · electric grid · Energy Savings Plan · Net Metering · renewable energy · Resilience

Implementing Combined Heat and Power Projects

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CHP reduces the environmental impact of power generation by promoting the use of efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source.

CHP can increase operational efficiency and decrease energy costs, while reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change.

Objective is to save time and money, reduce business risk and environmental impacts, and improve the power reliability of your facility in five steps:

o   Qualification Determine whether CHP is worth considering at your facility

o   Level 1 Feasibility Analysis Identify project goals and potential barriers. Quantify technical and economic opportunities while minimizing time and effort

o   Level 2 Feasibility Analysis Optimize CHP system design, including capacity, thermal application, and operation. Determine final CHP system pricing and return on investment

o   Procurement Build a CHP system according to specifications, on schedule and within budget

o   Operation & Maintenance Maintain a CHP system that provides expected energy savings and reduces emissions by running reliably and efficiently

projects designed to meet specific operational needs and integrate seamlessly into existing mechanical and electrical systems

Economic suitability for CHP is based on current and future fuel costs and utility rates; planned new construction or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment replacement; and the need for power reliability at the site.

CHP project economics are greatly affected by utility policies at the local state and federal level

The Technical Potential for CHP is based on the coincident demand of power and thermal energy. Power can include both electricity and shaft power, which can be used for mechanical purposes. Thermal demand can include steam, hot water, chilled water, process heat, refrigeration, and dehumidification. A CHP system can be designed to convert waste heat into various forms of thermal energy to meet different facility needs, including heating hot water in the winter and chilling water in the summer.

Operations and Maintenance $0.005/kilowatt-hour (kWh) – $0.015/kWh for maintenance, depending on type of equipment and operations and maintenance (O&M) procurement approach; possible cost for energy consultant to negotiate fuel purchase, depending on system size and in-house capabilities.

Benefits CHPs achieve efficiencies of 60 to 80 percent, compared to average fossil-fueled power plant efficiencies of 33 percent in the United States. These translate to:

• Reduced total fossil fuel use.

• Lower operating costs.

• Reduced emissions of regulated air pollutants.

• Reduced emissions of greenhouse gases.

• Increased reliability and power quality.

• Reduced grid congestion and avoided distribution losses.

CHP and biomass/biogas funding opportunities

Financial incentives, such as grants, tax incentives, low-interest loans, favorable partial load rates (e.g., standby rates), and tradable allowances.

Regulatory treatment that removes unintended barriers to CHP and biomass project development, such as standard interconnection requirements, net metering, and output-based regulations. 

State and federal incentives applicable to CHP systems, such as direct financial incentives or favorable regulatory treatment.

Find out if your facility is a good candidate for CHP

Energy and Water Project Funding
Build Operate Transfer · Business · Cogeneration · Conservation · destination management · Efficiency · Energy Savings Plan · entrepreneurs · Historic District · Historic Towns · renewable energy · Resilience · Sustainable Communities · water quality

Energy and Water Project Funding

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Small and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings account for 95 percent of building stock and consume half the energy in a sector of the economy responsible for 20 percent of the total energy consumption. Owners of smaller buildings are often unaware of the amount of energy wasted and the opportunity for savings that building automation systems provide. This sector hasn’t BAS for the following reasons: the high cost of tailoring software and acquiring hardware components is beyond the reach of most small- and medium-sized properties; the owner is not always the tenant that pays the utility bill, hence limited incentive to invest in the building’s energy efficiency.

Building Leases spell out how energy costs are divided between tenants and owners. Often, these leases are not structured in a way that promotes energy savings. Tenants have no incentive to save energy in their leased premises because energy costs are based on tenant square footage. Building owners have no incentive to invest in energy efficiency because the operating expenses are passed onto tenants. 

Green Leases promote energy efficiency by creating lease structures which equitably align the costs and benefits of efficiency investments between building owners and tenants.

Energy Management Systems can be used to centrally control devices like HVAC units and lighting systems across multiple locations. EMS also provide metering, sub-metering and monitoring functions that allow facility managers to gather data and insight to make more informed decisions about energy activities across their sites.

Distributed Generation occurs on a property site when energy is sold to the building occupants; here, commercial PPAs enable businesses and governments to purchase electricity directly from the generator rather than from the utility. Power Purchase Agreements PPA is a legal contract between an electricity generator and a power purchaser.

Financing Energy Efficiency Projects face several financial impediments, including information. Financial institutions often lack a full understanding of energy efficiency technologies which are almost always investments with long repayment terms. Small towns and rural communities require specific and unique knowledge, expertise and funding sources.

A Power Purchase Agreement PPA is a legal contract between an electricity generator and a power purchaser. Contractual terms may last anywhere between 5 and 20 years, during which time the power purchaser buys energy, and sometimes also capacity and services, from the electricity generator. Such agreements play a key role in the financing of independently owned electricity generating assets. The seller is typically an independent power producer – IPP.

PPAs Facilitate the Financing of Distributed Generation Assets

Distributed Generation occurs on a property site with energy is sold to the building occupants; here, commercial PPAs enable businesses and governments to purchase electricity directly from the generator rather than from the utility. The parties involved include: The Seller is the entity that owns the project. In most cases, the seller is organized as a special purpose entity whose main purpose is to facilitate project financing, and The Buyer is typically a utility or building occupants under the distributed generation scenario.

Water Resources Strategies on Main Street and Historic Districts

Urban Flooding many small towns across the country lose drinking water because of aging pipes, in addition, asphalt and concrete prevent rainwater from soaking into the ground. The solution to inadequate storm water and drinking water management: green infrastructure like rain gardens and bios wales.

Aging Pipes and Outdated Systems Waste 14 percent of Daily Water Consumption

Water Losses from aging infrastructure and faulty metering lead to lost revenue for utilities and higher rates for water users. Also, increasing demand, maintenance and energy costs are responsible for a 90% increase in utility rates. This trend can be countered by best management practices BMP that include state-of-the-art audits, leak detection monitoring, targeted repairs and upgrades, pressure management, and better metering technologies. 

Integrated Water Systems in Small Towns and Rural Communities by 2030 the world will need to produce 50 percent more for food and energy and 30 percent more fresh water. Solar pumps are reliable technology which can compete with conventional pumping technologies such as diesel pumping. Large amounts of energy are used in the entire water cycle. Water Pumps play a major role in all water and waste-water processes.

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Micro-CHP
Build Operate Transfer · CHP · Cogeneration · Conservation · Efficiency · electric grid · Energy Savings Plan · Net Metering · renewable energy · Resilience

Micro-CHP

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Solar Cogeneration and Net Metering Systems

A cogeneration plant often referred to as a combined heat and power plant is tasked with producing electricity and thermal energy in the form of heat or steam, or useful mechanical work, such as shaft power, from the same fuel source.

Micro-CHP engine systems are currently based on several different technologies: Internal combustion engines, Stirling engines, Fuel cell, Microturbines, Steam engine/Steam motor using either water or organic chemicals such as refrigerants.

Micro combined heat and power or mCHP applies to single or multi-family homes or small office buildings in the range of up to 50 kW. Local generation has the potential for a higher efficiency than traditional grid-level generators since it lacks the 8-10% energy losses from transporting electricity over long distances as well as 10–15% energy losses from heat transfer in district heating networks due to the difference between the thermal energy carrier – hot water – and the colder external environment.

Most Systems use natural gas as the primary energy source and emit carbon dioxide. A micro-CHP system usually contains a small fuel cell or a heat engine as a prime mover used to rotate a generator which provides electric power, while simultaneously utilizing the waste heat from the prime mover for a building’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. A micro-CHP generator delivers electricity as the by-product or may generate electricity with heat as the by-product. 

Micro-CHP systems have been facilitated by recent technological developments of small heat engines

Type 2008 2012 2015 2020
Electrical efficiency at rated power 34% 40% 42.5% 45%
CHP energy efficiency 80% 85% 87.5% 90%
Factory cost $750/kW $650/kW $550/kW $450/kW
Transient response (10%–90% rated power) 5 min 4 min 3 min 2 min
Start-up time from 20 °C ambient temperature 60 min 45 min 30 min 20 min
Degradation with cycling < 2%/1000 h 0.7%/1000 h 0.5%/1000 h 0.3%/1000 h
Operating lifetime 6,000 h 30,000 h 40,000 h 60,000 h
System availability 97% 97.5% 98% 99%

CPVT Concentrated photovoltaics and thermal also called CHAPS combined heat and power solar, is a cogeneration technology used in concentrated photovoltaics that produce electricity and heat in the same module. The heat may be employed in district and water heating, air conditioning, process heat or desalination.

Net metering micro-CHP systems achieve much of their savings by the value of electrical energy which is replaced by auto produced electricity. A generate-and-resell model supports this as home-generated power exceeding the in-home needs is sold back to the electrical utility. This system is efficient because the energy used is distributed and used instantaneously over the electric grid.

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Georgetown Texas
Conservation · Cultural Heritage · cultural itineraries · destination management · Efficiency · Historic Towns · renewable energy · Rivers · Sustainable Communities · travel plan · water quality · waterways

Georgetown Texas

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victorian architecture economic development energy and the environment

georgetown downtownGeorgetown is located 30 miles from Austin on the northeastern edge of Texas Hill Country. Portions of the town are located on either side of the Balcones Escarpment, a fault line characterized by black, fertile soils of the Black land Prairie, with the west side consisting of hilly, limestone karst formations.

The North and Middle Forks of the San Gabriel River run through the city, providing over 30 miles of hike and bike trails, parks and recreation for residents and visitors.

Blue Hole park in Georgetown Texas (view 4)History the earliest known historical occupants of the county, the Tonkawas, were a flint-working, hunting people who followed buffalo on foot and periodically set fire to the prairie to aid them in their hunts. During the 18th century, they made the transition to a horse culture and used firearms. The town was named for George Washington Glasscock who donated the land for the new community; the early American and Swedish pioneers were attracted to the area’s abundance of timber and clear water.

Victorian Architecture in 1976, a local ordinance was passed t protect the historic central business district. Georgetown has three National Register Historic Districts: Williamson County Courthouse District, Belford National District and the University Avenue/Elm Street District.

m.b. lockett building, georgetown, txSouthwestern University the Oldest University in Texas is one-half Mile from the Historic Square

Economic Development Georgetown was an agrarian community for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Shawnee Trail, a cattle trail that led from Texas to the rail centers in Kansas and Missouri, crossed through Georgetown. The establishment of Southwestern University and construction of a railroad contributed to the town’s growth and importance. Cotton was the dominant crop in the area between the 1880s and the 1920s.

san gabrial villagePopulation growth and industrial expansion continued modestly in the 20th century until about 1960, when residential, commercial, and industrial development, due to major growth and urban expansion of nearby Austin, greatly accelerated. Currently, Georgetown is served by the appropriately named Georgetown Railroad, a short line railroad that connects with the Union Pacific Railroad at Round Rock and at Granger.

Energy and the Environment in March 2015, Georgetown announced that their municipal-owned utility, Georgetown Utility Systems, would buy 100% of its power for its customers from wind and solar farms, effectively making the city 100% green-powered.

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Gillette Wyoming
Business · destination management · Efficiency · entrepreneurs · Geography · Historic Towns · intercity transit · renewable energy · Rivers · travel plan

Gillette Wyoming

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energy capital of the nation

Gillette is centrally located in an area involved with the development of vast quantities of American coal, oil and gas Over the last decade, the population has increased 48 percent. Founded in 1891 with the coming of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, it was named for Edward Gillette, who worked as a surveyor for the company.

Gillette WyomingThe Rockpile Museum documents life in early Gillette. After the railroad moved to Sheridan, Gillette survived in order to serve the ranchers, cowboys, and homesteaders who were trying to make a life in the countryside surrounding the town. Cattlemen drove their herds into the livestock yards at Gillette for sale and transportation to the markets back east. Industrious citizens set up businesses to cater to these people and any who passed through. Livery barns, stables, and blacksmiths popped up to house travelers’ horses and haulers’ draft teams. Bars and brothels catered to those who pursued that lifestyle.

black HillsTourism Gillette’s inclusion on the Black and Yellow Trail in 1912, a highway extending from the Black Hills to Yellowstone, brought many different travelers and tourists into town via automobile resulting in construction of tourist camps, cottages, and motels along with cafes and eateries.

The Gillette Syndrome is named for the social disruptions that occur in towns experiencing rapid growth; during the 1960s, Gillette doubled its population from 3,580 to 7,194 resulting in increased crime, high costs of living and weakened social and community bonds.

Powder River MapGeography Gillette is situated between the Bighorn Mountains and the Black Hills in the Powder River Basin. Devils Tower rises 1,267 feet – 386 m – above the Belle Fourche River; the summit is 5,112 feet – 1,559 m – above sea level.

 

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Ethical and Technical Solutions for Climate Change
CHP · destination management · electric grid · renewable energy

Ethical and Technical Solutions for Climate Change

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Our problems are man-made–therefore, they can be solved by man

President John F Kennedy

The Middle Atlantic Region of the United States is among the most affluent in the world, with a high percentage of highly educated, informed and environment conscious citizenry. This is also a trend setting region because it is:

the seat of government where the rules and regulations are crafted, and

a highly diverse community with people from all over the world that live, work, study and visit here; hence the perfect conduit to transfer ideas and know-how to other communities.

Silver Lake DEEthical not Technical as the documentary Surviving Progress points out, solutions to climate change and mankind’s condition on planet earth can be found less in technological advancement and more in ethical and political considerations; people tend to do and want what others do and want.

There are of course technical and practical issues, but they can only be effective if:

  1. preceded by an educational effort to inform the public on the benefit of a specific course of action, as well as the consequences of inaction, which forces
  2. political office holders to make decisions, provide leadership, and
  3. direct rule making bodies to establish new and appropriate regulations and sanctions

The Solution lies in consuming less without impacting quality and standard of life. This is achieved by first tackling ethical and political considerations, including but are not limited to:

  • recalculating government and family budgets; economics is not a science therefore it is not subject to unchanging facts of life like the laws of gravity
  • budgets must take into-account what we take from nature through a revenue neutral carbon tax with consumption levies and income tax rebates

Dover DelawareAt this point, technological as well as politically and economically feasible solutions can be adopted.

If your community is dependent on service industries, such as tourism, it can adapt a series of measures that address water resources and quality as well as energy savings. Management innovations such Energy Services Performance Contracts – ESPCs – and Technical solutions, such as Combined Heat and Power – CHP – are proven, state of the art systems that:

reduce greenhouse emissions by 40 percent

consume essentially zero water resources in generating electricity

are low-cost to electricity generation

reduce the risk of electric grid disruptions, and

increase predictability with electricity prices

Most of all, going back to the politics of the climate change issue, they utilize:

  1. fossil and/or renewable energy, lessening the stalemate between these two options
  2. highly-skilled local labor and technology, hence creating new wealth in a community
  3. are adaptable and scalable to local conditions, and
  4. meet the stated goal of consuming less without impacting quality and standard of life.

NASA-2015 Record Warm Global Year Since1880ESPCs and CHP are utilized in a variety of applications:

industrial providing electricity and steam to energy-intensive industries such as chemicals, paper, refining, food processing, and metals manufacturing

commercial and institutional providing electricity, steam, and hot water to hospitals, schools, university campuses, farms, hotels, nursing homes, office buildings apartment complexes and other residential housing.

In developed and developing communities there is a disconnect on most issues between the elites – the wealthy, opinion and decision makers – and the rest, especially regarding economic development, trade and the environment.

The connection between haves and have nots will occur when wealth creation, employment and entrepreneurship are linked to the climate change issue; till then, climate related issues will remain an issue of interest to a very select minority of earth’s population. The link is more likely to occur when technologically, economically and politically evolved regions like the Middle Atlantic States set the example and show the way to combat climate change; other communities will then follow in their footsteps to the benefit of all.

Ethical and Technical Solutions for Climate Change

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Saving Energy on Main Street
America · Build Operate Transfer · Business · CHP · Cogeneration · Conservation · Efficiency · electric grid · Energy Savings Plan · Historic District · Historic Towns · Logistics · Net Metering · renewable energy · Resilience

Saving Energy on Main Street

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Energy Service Companies Savings Performance Contracts ESA Payments and ESCO Guarantees

Energy Services Agreements – ESAs – are pay-for-performance, off-balance sheet financing solutions that allows customers to implement energy efficiency projects with zero upfront capital expenditure. As in the case of power purchase agreements – PPAs – equipment is installed, owned and operated by the vendor who sells the saved power to the customer.

Red Wing MNESAs are the Energy Efficiency Equivalent of a Power Purchase Agreement

Energy Service Companies – ESCos – provide designs and implementation solutions for energy savings projects, retrofitting, energy conservation, outsourcing, power generation and supply.

Energy Savings Performance Contracts – ESPCs – accelerate investment in cost effective energy conservation measures without up-front capital costs. ESPCs are partnerships between a property owner/operator and an ESCo which conducts a comprehensive energy audit to identify improvements to save energy, designs and constructs the project as well as arranges the necessary financing.

An ESCO Guarantees the Improvements that Generate Energy Cost Savings

Energy Savings result from lighting upgrades, building automation system and controls. A Flexible Contractual Tool for retailers looking to stabilize utility costs as well as achieve longer term benefits by buying out the contract and take ownership of installed equipment.

main streetEnergy Management for Small and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings

ESA Payments are operating expenses designed to be off-balance sheet financing solutions with regular payments similar-to a utility bill.

Outputs Quality and Achievements of Specific Measurable Performance Standards 

aberdeen buildingBenefits resulting from the application of ESAs include energy efficiency, water conservation, emissions reduction and streamlined contract funding for energy management projects, through access to private-sector expertise, built-in incentives to provide high-quality equipment, and project commissioning infrastructure improvements. Project management ensures building efficiency and new equipment without upfront capital costs as well as energy and related operation and maintenance cost saving guarantees.

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Energy Management in Small Buildings
Business · CHP · Conservation · Efficiency · electric grid · Historic Towns · renewable energy · Sustainable Communities

Energy Management in Small Buildings

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Innovative Energy Savings Solutions

main streetSmall and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings account for 95 percent of building stock and consume half the energy in a sector of the economy responsible for 20 percent of the total energy consumption.
Owners of smaller buildings are often unaware of the amount of energy wasted and the opportunity for savings that building automation systems provide. This sector hasn’t BAS for the following reasons:

    • the high cost of tailoring software and acquiring hardware components is beyond the reach of most small- and medium-sized properties;
    • the owner is not always the tenant that pays the utility bill, hence limited incentive to invest in the building’s energy efficiency.

Cost and Operations wide scale adoption of BAS requires scale and ease of deployment that are achievable with plug-and-play open architectures capable of local or remote monitoring.

Most BAS currently Use Proprietary Architectures

PPL graphControls Designers purchase all devices and controllers from single vendors instead of being able to choose optimal products, controls and services from different vendors to achieve widespread turnkey solutions that reduce installation and maintenance costs with seamless integration of HVAC, lighting, and plug load equipment as well as controllers from different manufacturers that offer plug-and-play functionality for the many system configurations found in smaller commercial architectures.

voltec imageBenefits include streamlined building operations, optimized energy usage, greater interconnection between building systems and a centralized control structure that facilitates demand response, savings and better integration with the electric power grid, energy savings of 10 percent for HVAC systems and 15 percent for lighting, increased participation in demand response programs, a cost-effective, open-source, plug-and-play building automation platform that is secure, scalable, and broadly interoperable, and support for the most prevalent communication technologies and protocols, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Smart Energy Profile.

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for Innovative Energy Savings Solutions in Small Commercial Buildings

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