A whole range of greener sources of energy have come to the surface and continue to do so as the topic of global warming continues to dominate the global conversation. There has been a much greater focus on greener initiatives, and it’s great to see people actively improving efforts to save on waste and energy.
Combined heat and power is one of those systems that aims to keep waste and energy at a minimum, and is one of the greenest co-generation processes. So I thought I would take a closer look into its functioning and benefits.
What is it?
Also known as CHP, combined heat and power is a co-generation process. It is the method by which old and wasted heat produced by electricity in power stations is used and then reused. The regenerating function makes for significant financial and environmental benefits, so it seems to be win win!
What are the benefits?
As mentioned, there are significant financial and environmental benefits to this system, so let’s take a closer look at what they entail and why more of us should be considering investing in a system like this.
The heat generated from power station waste energy can bring overall savings of up to 40%. If you use CHP in an energy scheme within a community this can make planning permissions much easier to facilitate. It can also provide a key element of the carbon management and reduction strategy of a business.
Gas-fired CHP can be a sustainable way of generating electricity to then be sold back to the National Grid. So you make some money from your extra energy that can then go back into supplying homes and commercial businesses, or private wired network supplies.
Environmental benefits – So along with impressive business benefits, CHP has been stated to be a key measure in reducing levels of co2 emissions, in some cases by a staggering 50%! This is therefore a key strategy that helps meet the target of carbon emission reductions in the UK.
All of which help contribute to a greener UK, which is why this strategy should be shouted about much more.
How does it work?
So a CHP system can be installed near to or in a facility, like a power station where it captures wasted heat energy produced from electrical generation. The heat or thermal energy that is captured is then used for heating spaces, domestic hot water, cooling and process heating.
The reusing of the heat to supply these things means a reduction on our reliance on traditional fossil fuels, hence its impressive environmental and financial benefits.
In particular, Vital Energi has 15 years of experience in CHP and has worked on a variety of projects across the UK. For more information on this eco technology, along with a whole host of others, take a look at the services they provide.
Each of their solutions and technologies attempt to unite communities and large scale projects, and strive for a greener environment and future, which is what we should all actively be doing.
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