The potential impact of policies to promote combined heat and power in US industry

This paper reviews a portion of the study Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future that examined the impact that combined heat and power (CHP) technologies could have on US industry. This effort explored how different public policies and programs could affect the energy use and environmental impact of a wide range of CHP technologies, including those currently under development. It concluded that policies can be developed to significantly reduce carbon emissions, increase energy efficiency, and improve fuel diversity within the US industrial sector, all at little or no additional cost to the US economy. These policies sought to either improve the cost and performance of CHP technology or to reduce financial, siting or utility barriers to adoption. The most Advanced set of policies has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by over 26 million metric tons by the year 2010, all by removing barriers to applications of CHP that are economically achievable by industry.