More than a century after it was first introduced, Sarah Laskow examines the many advantages of using, and reusing, energy in cogeneration power plants, a technology whose time has come.
While cogeneration is not a new technology (Thomas Edison first used it commercially in 1882), institutions across the country, including New York University's Stern School of Business, are increasingly recognizing the benefits of such systems to reliability, sustainability, and their bottom line.
According to Laskow, "The Department of Energy called cogeneration 'one of the most promising options in the US energy efficiency portfolio' and estimated that if these plants accounted for 20 percent of the country's electricity capacity, they would keep as much carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as taking 154 million cars off the road would."
Laskow points out that industrial production, such as paper, chemical, and petroleum refining plants, have also recognized the value in cogeneration. "Across the country, cogeneration plants already produce more than 81,000 MW of power, almost doubled the amount of wind power capacity installed."
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