Report Details Potential of Combined Heat and Power in US

• A 60% reduction of projected increase in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030
• Fuel savings of 5.3 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) annually, the equivalent of nearly half the total energy currently consumed by U.S. households
• Economically viable application in industrial facilities, commercial buildings, multi- and single-family housing, institutional facilities and college campuses
• The creation of 1 million new highly-skilled jobs through 2030 and US $234 billion in new investments throughout the United States

CHP, also known as cogeneration, is the concurrent production and use of electricity or mechanical power and useful thermal energy from a single fuel source. CHP includes a suite of technologies that can use a variety of fuels to generate electricity or power at the point of use, allowing normally lost heat to be recovered to provide needed heating or cooling.

The report is a joint effort between the Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and involved input and review by a range of industry, association, and non-governmental stakeholders.

To view the report or to learn more about the ITP's CHP activities, visit ITP's Industrial Distributed Energy Web site.