Cogeneration: Today and the next 20 years

Journal Article · Thu Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · Spec. Eng.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5143518

Thompson, B

The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) estimates that the technical potential for cogeneration in the industrial sector may be as large as 200 gigawatts of electrical capacity by the year 2000. The commercial, residential, and agricultural sectors offer much lower potential-3 to 5 GWaccording to OTA. In the short run, cogeneration investments must compete for capital with other less costly conservation projects that have shorter paybacks. In the long term, beyond 1990, cogeneration will compete with electricity supplied by coal, nuclear, hydroelectric and other types of alternatively fueled electric utility generating capacity. The technology's market potential also may be limited by the inability of most technologies-particularly smaller scale systems-to consume fuels other than oil and gas. At present, only steam turbine cogenerators can accommodate solid fuels. Technologies under development will have greater fuel flexibility. The OTA says that the advanced conversion systems such as fluidized beds and gasifiers will not contribute significantly for 5 to 10 years.

• OSTI ID: 5143518
• Journal Information: Spec. Eng.; (United States), Journal Name: Spec. Eng.; (United States) Vol. 51:3; ISSN SPEND
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200105 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Heat Utilization
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290800* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Heat Utilization-- (1980-)
COGENERATION
DEUS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FINANCING
FORECASTING
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
POWER GENERATION
POWER PLANTS
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
STEAM GENERATION
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
US OTA