World Cogeneration Day, September 4, commemorates the first cogeneration plant at Pearl Station in New York City, which began generation electricity in 1882, and celebrates the unsung heroes in the industry who quietly keep the lights on through combined heat and power facilities across the world.
Cogeneration, or combined heat and power, is the simultaneous production of two forms of energy, typically electricity and thermal energy, from a single fuel source. When both forms of energy are utilized to the fullest extent, the efficiency of the cogeneration system can reach above 80%, which means our precious energy resources are maximized, rather than wasted.
Most people don’t think about electricity and thermal energy at all or they think it all comes from large power plants far, far away. However, as businesses become more concerned about the environment and resiliency, we see a rise in cogeneration projects that meet those needs and as a bonus reduce energy costs.
Although it seems like combined heat and power and cogeneration are recent trends, it is actually another example of “what’s old is new.” In fact, if you Google “first commercial power plant” Pearl Street Station will be your first link. Explore for just a moment and you will learn that Pearl Street was the brainchild of Thomas Edison; made to provide the electricity for his newly invented light bulb while sending steam to nearby buildings and factories to provide heating. It was efficient to use both the electricity and the heat and it was needed to justify building a new technology.
So what happened? As electric generating technology advanced, cost became the driving factor. Building larger plants increased the economies of scale and made electricity cheaper. Somewhere along the way it became cheaper to produce more electricity off site and direct as much of the thermal or heat energy into producing electricity as possible. This focused only on cost and the impacts to the environment were completely unknown at that time. Now, as we see the ever-growing need for electricity continue we also strive to balance its supply with its impact to the environment. This drives us back to where we started, using all forms of energy, electricity and heat/cold, as efficiently as possible in order to have a lower impact on the planet.
As we celebrate World Cogeneration Day today, it takes on a whole new meaning and context during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hospitals and clinics are at the front lines treating patients and defending those most severely impacted. When a patient’s life depends on a ventilator, it goes without saying that the ventilator cannot lose power. Hospitals that have a cogeneration system have an extra layer of electrical protection for that ventilator and for that patient clinging to life and breath.
World Cogeneration Day honors those in the industry that serve behind the scenes to keep the lights on and keep power running to those ventilators. At White Harvest Energy, we have never been so proud of our employees as we are this year for serving faithfully to keep the power on at a cogeneration plant we operate at a major public hospital. Though our technicians are unseen, we supply the power that protects functions critical to patient safety and health, day in day out, before, during and after COVID-19.
If you and your team operate a cogeneration or CHP facility, be sure to thank those unsung heroes who work to preserve the resources while delivering the critical power and heat that sustains our homes, businesses, and hospitals.