Performance Results and Lessons Learned from Austin Energy’s Packaged Cooling-Heating-Power System

Abstract

According to many industry experts, we have already reached the
top of our gas bubble—the rate of discovery of future gas reserves is
increasing at a pace slower than the rate of increase in demand. These
experts paint an unfavorable scenario for the day that the supply and
demand curves intersect. Some pundits believe this intersection could
be as soon as 2025.
We can have optimism for the long-term prospects of energy be-
cause numerous initiatives are under way to replace our dependence
on finite supplies of fossil fuels. A multitude of government and private
programs promise to increase the feasibility of renewable energy sources
such as hydrogen, solar, wind and biogas. Perhaps the energy “wreck”
that some experts are forecasting will be forestalled forever by the in-
troduction of renewable energy into the daily routines of our personal
and business lives.
An added risk for delivery of reliable power is the electricity trans-
mission infrastructure. While investments in electric generation assets
continue to increase, especially since 2000, investments and upgrades
to transmission systems continue to decrease year after year.
In the meanwhile, until that 20 to 30 year “wreck” is forecast to
occur, we have opportunity to take action that will sustain us while we
still have reliable supply of fossil fuels. According to the US Department
of Energy (DOE), combined cooling, heating and power (CHP) is an es-
sential element in the distributed generation portfolio often making the economic and environmental difference between success and failure of a
project. CHP has been called the bridge to a sustainable energy future.