Recycled Energy Development
The web’s resource for energy recycling news and information
December 03, 2010
CONTACT:
Heather Shadur: 312.226.5100 or heather@shadur.com
WASHINGTON, DC — Key members of the Alliance for Industrial Efficiency today praised the Environmental Protection Agency for including industrial energy efficiency in rulemaking efforts to lower the nation’s greenhouse pollution. (Read AIE statement.)
EPA’s recently issued guidance for greenhouse gas emissions permits (PSD and Title V Permitting Guidance for Greenhouse Gases) makes energy efficiency the centerpiece of its compliance options. It recognizes energy recycling techniques including combined heat and power (CHP) and waste heat recovery as cost-effective ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector. It also explicitly mentions CHP and waste heat recovery as Best Available Control Technologies (BACT), which will allow industrial plants to employ energy recycling techniques as a way to satisfy EPA’s permitting requirements.
“We are pleased the EPA has recognized the important role industrial energy efficiency can play in lowering C02 emissions,” said David Gardiner, executive director of the Alliance for Industrial Efficiency. “Not only do these proven techniques reduce emissions, but they can also significantly enhance the competitiveness of American manufacturers by reducing energy costs, typically a top operating expense.”
In its comment letter, the Alliance called on the EPA to strengthen its proposal by requiring all facilities to consider CHP and waste heat recovery at the beginning of the permit process. It also recommended the EPA create a comprehensive, searchable database of BACT determinations and available technologies for all industrial sectors, to ensure that regulated entities can consider all available options.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that full deployment of CHP and waste heat recovery could produce an additional 156 gigawatts of clean power by 2030. At that level, the new clean power output would be comparable to the capacity of roughly 300 conventional power plants, and would reduce CO2 emissions by more than 800 million metric tons per year — equivalent to removing more than half of the current passenger vehicles from the road.
“It’s a myth that we can’t grow our economy and reduce greenhouse emissions at the same time,” said Tom Casten, chairman of Recycled Energy Development, one of the companies that signed the letter.
“By improving the efficiency of large industrial plants, which account for about one-third of total U.S. energy demand, we can lower energy costs, increase productivity, create jobs and help the planet.”
The EPA also recognized that regulation of greenhouse emissions should be tied to the amount of usable energy produced, rather than the amount of fossil fuel burned to generate power. This standard, known as output-based pollution credits, encourages more efficient power generation by rewarding those that produce more energy from less fossil fuel.
The comment submitted by the Alliance for Industrial Efficiency was signed by the following organizations:
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