Industry
News
Cogen Is Key in University
Climate Action Plans
Both New York University (NYU) and
Johns Hopkins University have released
climate action plans that include cogeneration among their strategies for reducing
campus greenhouse gas emissions and
advancing sustainability.
The NYU plan, which reflects the university’s commitment to achieve net zero
emissions by 2040, includes the production of cleaner energy on campus with
an upgraded and expanded cogeneration
power plant. Starting this year, the new
plant will annually mitigate 23 percent of
NYU’s baseline FY 2006 emissions. NYU will
also minimize fuel oil use to heat buildings,
replacing it where possible with cleaner,
more efficient energy sources.
In addition to producing and using
cleaner energy with cogeneration, NYU’s
climate action plan contains three other
major emissions reduction strategies:
decreasing the amount of energy used
in campus buildings; developing on-site
renewable energy generation projects on
buildings, including wind and solar technologies; and purchasing offsets with added
social, environmental and educational value
to accomplish long-term climate goals.
NYU’s full climate action plan can be read
at http://tinyurl.com/yznz7zz.
Johns Hopkins University’s climate
action plan calls for an investment of more
than $73 million in conservation and energy
efficiency measures to reduce campus carbon dioxide emissions by more than half
from levels projected by 2025. The goal
over the next 15 years is to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 141,000 metric tons per
year. Projects supporting this goal include
the construction of cogeneration plants at
both the university’s East Baltimore and
Homewood campuses – expected to lower
CO2 emissions by a total of 32,000 metric
tons per year. The new plants will burn
natural gas to produce both electricity and
steam heat more cheaply and efficiently.
Other Johns Hopkins projects include
upgrading lighting fixtures and controls;
installing solar power panels and solar
hot water equipment, window replacements and other building improvements;
establishing an Environment, Sustainability
and Health Institute, where faculty members will collaborate on research, and a
Sustainability House to serve as headquarters for the university’s Office of
Sustainability; and other education and
community outreach initiatives. To read the
Johns Hopkins climate action plan, go to
http://tinyurl.com/y9756fc.
Groups Unite to Promote
Pro-CHP Legislation
Nearly 90 business, labor, environmental and government organizations united
this spring to urge Congress to adopt
new tax policies to enhance industrial
energy efficiency in order to simultaneously
increase manufacturing competitiveness,
create jobs and reduce pollution. IDEA is
among the supporters of these policies.
The diverse set of organizations sent
letters April 12 to the Senate Finance
Committee and the House Ways and
Means Committee asking for tax credits
to expand use of combined heat and
power and waste energy recovery, which
would greatly improve energy efficiency.
Manufacturers consume vast quantities of
energy, usually finding it to be one of their
largest production costs. CHP and waste
energy recovery can often double industrial
plant efficiency.
The group is asking for passage
of the bipartisan S.1639 (sponsored by
Senators Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and
Olympia Snowe, R-Maine) and H.R. 4455
(Representatives Mike Thompson, D-Calif.,
and John Linder, R-Ga.), as well as H.R.
4144 (Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.) and H.R.
4751 (Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N. Y.) to encourage near-term, shovel-ready projects that
will create and maintain thousands of jobs
within the industrial sector and in the manufacture, installation and operation of CHP
and waste energy recovery equipment.
“The industrial sector is a huge con-
sumer of power, yet doesn’t get sufficient
attention in the quest for energy efficiency.
Manufacturers that recycle their waste
energy are typically able to cut their energy
expenses by about 20 percent, reaping
huge savings on a core operating cost
while drastically reducing greenhouse gas
emissions,” said Tom Casten, chairman of
Recycled Energy Development.
Opcon Systems Headed to
Sweden, Lithuania
Energy and environmental technology
group Opcon AB recently received major
orders from district heating plants in
Sweden and Lithuania. The Stockholm-
based company will install a steam-powered
version of Opcon Powerbox at the district
heating plant in Aneby, Sweden, for use
in producing green electricity. Powerbox
technology enables a district heating plant
to profitably complement heat production
with electricity generation converting it into
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