Cogeneration- The Rest of the Story

Abstract

Everyone is praising the daylights out of cogeneration these days. And while it may be the best energy system design, there are numerous questions that should be asked before anyone jumps on the bandwagon. We are not seeing enough sobriety and good old engineering conservatism. Since when are we designing systems without checking our assumptions? Where have professionalism, ethics and care gone? Why is it that only five of the past 100 cogeneration evaluations we reviewed were conservative and fair representations? This paper illustrates a step-by-step approach to checking the accuracy of a cogeneration project. Illustrations of typical errors and their consequences are also developed. Potential industrial and commercial users should find this list helpful in evaluating requests for proposals (RFPs). Electric and gas utilities could use this list to assist customers when looking closely at cogeneration. And regulators and their staffs should consider the potential for unscrupulous tricks and traps to be played on unsuspecting or naive buyers.