Cogeneration: A user's guide

If there are two phrases we have come to know very well, they are 'environmental awareness' and 'credit crunch'. The world is looking for ways to decrease the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, without incurring major costs in doing so. By increasing efficiencies up to about 90 per cent using well-established and mature technologies, cogeneration represents the best option for short-term reductions in CO2 emission levels. The ability to maximise revenue streams by taking advantage of price fluctuations in the cost of energy supply, and ensuring the ability to supply power regardless of what is happening on the grid, are powerful incentives to use cogeneration. The collapses of the grid networks in North America and Italy in 2003 were a stark reminder of what can happen if there is over-reliance on the grid network. Cogeneration makes sense economically, environmentally and operationally.