Generating Power Solutions For You
Centralised Power
Centralised Power System
Centralized generation” refers to the large-scale generation of electricityat centralized facilities. These facilities are usually located away from end-users and connected to a network of high-voltage transmission lines.
The vast majority of the electricity that Americans use is from centralized generation. Centralized generation facilities in the United States currently have the capacity to generate more than 1,100 gigawatts of electric power.
Environmental Impacts of Centralised Power Generation
In general, centralized power plants can affect the environment in the following ways:
Air pollutant emissions:
The amount and type of emissions will vary by fuel burned and other plant characteristics.
- Air pollution from burning fuel often includes carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and particulate matter.
Water use and discharge:
- Water used for steam production or cooling may be returned at warmer temperatures to water bodies and may contain contaminants.
- Some water may also be lost to evaporation.
Waste generation:
- Burning certain fuels results in solid waste such as ash, which must be stored and eventually disposed of properly.
- Some wastes contain hazardous substances. For example, nuclear power generation produces radioactive waste, while coal ash can contain heavy metals like mercury.
Land use:
- Large power plants require space for their operations.
- Centralized generation requires transmission lines, which also use land.
Distributed Power
Distributed Power System
Distributed generation refers to a variety of technologies that generate electricity at or near where it will be used, such as solar panels and combined heat and power.
Distributed generation may serve a single structure, such as a home or business, or it may be part of a microgrid (a smaller grid that is also tied into the larger electricity delivery system), such as at a major industrial facility, hotels, apartments, shopping malls, military base, large college campus etc.
Environmental Impacts of Distributed Power Generation
Distributed generation can benefit the environment if its use reduces the amount of electricity that must be generated at centralized power plants, in turn can reduce the environmental impacts of centralized generation.
- Existing cost-effective distributed generation technologies can be used to generate electricity at homes and businesses using renewable energy resources such as methane gas from landfills, wastewater treatment facilities food processing facilities, as well as agriculture waste, which is often referred to as “green waste.”
- Distributed generation can harness energy that might otherwise be wasted—for example, through a combined heat and power system.
- By using local energy sources, distributed generation reduces or eliminates the “line loss” (wasted energy) that happens during transmission and distribution in the electricity delivery system.
As electric utilities integrate information and communications technologies to modernize electricity delivery systems, there may be opportunities to reliably and cost-effectively increase the use of distributed generation.
COMBINED HEATING & POWER - CHP
Combined Heat and Power
CHP also known as cogeneration, produces both electricity and thermal energy on-site, replacing or supplementing electricity provided from a local utility and fuel burned in an on-site boiler or furnace.
CHP systems increase energy security by producing energy at the point of use, and significantly improve energy efficiency.
The efficiency benefit that a typical CHP system achieves compared to the use of grid electricity and the production of steam or hot water with an on-site boiler.
When electricity and thermal energy are provided separately, overall energy efficiency ranges from 45–55%. While efficien- cies vary for CHP installations based on site-specific param- eters, a properly designed CHP system will typically operate with an overall efficiency of 65–85%.
CHP User Benefits
Decreased energy costs
Enhanced energy resiliency
Reduced risk from uncertain energy prices
Increased economic competitiveness
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Energy and Emissions Savings Calculator is a Microsoft Excel-based tool that calculates and compares the estimated fuel consumption and air pollutant emissions (CO2e, SO2 and NOX) of a CHP system and comparable separate heat and power system (SHP) (e.g., grid power and a boiler system). The calculator also presents the carbon emissions reductions from a CHP system in terms of the emissions associated with passenger vehicles and the generation of electricity used by the average U.S. home.
The calculator uses fuel-specific emissions factors developed by EPA, and grid emissions factors and region-specific transmission and distribution (T&D) loss data from the Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID).
Please click on link below to go to the EPA
CHP Energy and Emissions Savings Calculator