The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday recognized two Pennsylvania industrial facilities with the Energy Star Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Award for their highly efficient CHP systems—energy production systems that decrease energy costs and reduce their carbon emissions, which cause climate change.
The companies are: Janssen R&D LLC, Spring House and Merck, West Point both in Montgomery County.
“The companies recognized today with the Energy Star Combined Heat and Power Award are leading by example and reducing carbon pollution equal to the generation of electricity used by more than 63,000 homes, and have reduced their combined energy costs by over $54 million annually,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “The CHP technology offers a strategy to help meet the goals of the President’s Climate Action Plan for a cleaner power sector while boosting the efficiency and competitiveness for many U.S. manufacturers.”
CHP systems used by the award winners achieve operating efficiencies of between 62 and 78 percent—much higher than the efficiency of conventional production of electricity and thermal energy, which can be less than 50 percent.
CHP, also known as cogeneration, simultaneously produces electricity and steam or hot water from a single heat source, using traditional or renewable fuels. By recovering and using heat typically wasted by the conventional production of electricity, CHP gives U.S. manufacturers a competitive edge by minimizing production costs while reducing carbon pollution.
CHP is ideally suited for many industrial facilities as it provides reliable and cost-effective electricity and heat for a variety of manufacturing processes, including the production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, where energy costs can be a significant portion of operating costs. By generating electricity on site, the systems also reduce demands on the nation’s electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure.
EPA is presenting the awards at the Energy Star Industrial Partner and Focus Meetings in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.
Established in 2001, EPA's voluntary CHP Partnership program seeks to reduce the environmental impact of power generation by promoting the cost-effective use of CHP. The partnership works closely with energy users, the CHP industry, state and local governments, and other clean energy stakeholders to facilitate the development of new CHP projects and to promote CHP’s environmental and economic benefits.
For more information, visit EPA’s Combined Heat and Power Partnership or Energy Star Industrial Program webpages.
