by Rebecca Walker — July 26, 2010—The International District Energy Association (IDEA) applauds Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.; Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.; and Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., as well as Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., for introducing bi-partisan legislation that recognizes the economic and environmental importance of thermal energy and creates policies to support expanded use of district energy and combined heat and power systems throughout the country.
Introduced July 21, the Thermal Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act (TREEA), represents an enormous opportunity to improve energy efficiency, increase energy security and cut greenhouse gas emissions through renewable thermal energy sources, combined heat and power and other energy-efficient technologies.
“Since nearly one-third of the total energy consumed in the U.S. is used for heating and cooling buildings and industrial processes, it’s high time that national energy policy more fully consider thermal energy,” said Robert P. Thornton, president of the International District Energy Association. “Currently, energy policies focus primarily on electricity and overlook huge opportunities for saving money and the environment through cleaner and more efficient uses of thermal energy. TREEA could help make that happen. Expanding existing and developing new district energy and combined heat and power systems are some of the best ways to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.”
District energy systems produce steam, hot water and/or chilled water at a central plant and then pipe that thermal energy out to buildings in the district for space heating, domestic hot water heating and air conditioning. Customer buildings don’t need their own boilers or furnaces, chillers or air conditioners.
Combined heat and power (CHP) — also called cogeneration — is a way to dramatically increase the efficiency of power plants. Standard power plants typically convert around 35 percent of the fuel they burn into useful electricity and end up rejecting 65 percent or more of the fuel energy as waste heat into oceans, lakes, rivers or the atmosphere. District energy/CHP systems recover and use this waste heat for heating and cooling buildings in a surrounding area through a district energy system.
With more than 2,500 district energy systems in the United States, including most large cities and college campuses, there are widespread opportunities to integrate combined heat and power into existing district energy systems or connect renewable thermal sources, according to IDEA.
For more information, see the Web site.
