This is good for SSPC:
NEWS IS JUST OUT!!!
Energy Efficiency, Fuel Flexibility Help Drive President's Nod to District
Energy and Combined Heat and
Power, Says IDEA
Business Editors & Energy Writers
ST. PAUL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2001--President George W. Bush
today toured District Energy St. Paul Inc. to view the company's
district energy plant prior to announcing the Administration's
National Energy Policy, a policy expected to help encourage additional
district energy and combined heat and power development.
"District Energy St. Paul serves as an example of the potential
district energy and combined heat and power systems hold for further
increasing the efficiency of heating and cooling our nation's cities
and university campuses," says Robert P. Thornton, president,
International District Energy Association. "Energy efficiency,
reliability and fuel flexibility are district energy hallmarks - and
those certainly are key to stabilizing the country's energy future."
One important advantage of district energy systems is their
widespread use in virtually every major U.S. city and on hundreds of
university campuses, airports, hospital complexes and military bases -
from Manhattan to New Orleans to Seattle to Nome, Alaska. In many U.S.
cities, the district energy system has been part of the urban energy
infrastructure for more than a century, producing steam, hot water
and/or chilled water for distribution through an underground piping
network to area buildings for heating, cooling or industrial
processes.
Famous district energy customers include the U.S. Capitol
Building, the Transamerica Pyramid, Rockefeller Center, Stanford
University, Harvard University, Princeton University, the Pentagon,
and Boys Town in Omaha, to name just a few.
"District energy is not a new technology in and of itself," says
Thornton. "It is here today, it works today and we don't have to wait
to test it or research it. District energy systems are adaptable and
can take advantage of new energy technologies and ideas as they come
along."
In particular, district cooling systems are taking advantage of
steam-based cooling and ice and chilled-water storage technologies to
help displace peak electric power demand. This benefits the local
power grid by reducing peak power demand and alleviating power
congestion due to power transmission limitations in cities. So
district cooling can help alleviate the challenges posed by high
electric consumption.
Due to their centralized scale, district energy plants - run by
skilled energy professionals - generally use fuels more efficiently
than is often possible in individual boilers at multiple buildings.
Reliability of the systems is high - usually more than "five nines"
(99.999 percent) - since numerous boilers and chillers can be called
on to serve a system's many customers. Plus, since a central plant
consolidates the heating and/or cooling appetites of numerous
individual buildings, economies of scale kick in and numerous fuel
sources can be used - from the conventional coal, oil and natural gas
to renewables such as wood waste or combined heat and power
(cogeneration).
Combined heat and power systems provide a perfect partner for
district energy systems. A standard power plant generates electricity,
but nearly 60 percent of the energy consumed to produce that
electricity is considered "reject" heat that is not used. District
energy systems provide a way to "tap" the reject heat and use it more
effectively to heat customer buildings in a city or on a campus or in
industrial processes.
When the reject heat can be used for district energy, the system
becomes a combined heat and power system - generating both electricity
and heat for customers. This nearly doubles a power plant's fuel
efficiency and also lowers the emissions typically associated with
standard electrical production. The less energy used, the less sulfur
dioxide and carbon dioxide expelled into the environment.
Based just outside Boston, the International District Energy
Association has nearly 900 members in 18 countries. Formed in 1909,
IDEA's mission is to promote energy efficiency and environmental
quality through the advancement of district heating, cooling and
combined heat and power. See IDEA's press room at
www.districtenergy.org/pressroom/ for detailed information, interview
opportunities and downloadable graphics. See District Energy St.
Paul's Web site for more information on the St. Paul system at
www.districtenergy.com. |
