Additional Considerations for an Updated “Cogeneration Bluprint”

Abstract

What a difference a few years make! When this article was written,
in late 1981, it was “illegal” to burn natural gas for power generation.
That came about due to the energy crises of the mid 1970’s when the
Northern regions of the country were freezing in the winter because
there wasn’t enough natural gas in the pipelines to heat the homes.
Industries were either switching to oil, or shutting down to conserve
nature’s most accommodating fuel.
As mentioned in the referenced article, if industry and institutional
establishments were considering cogeneration in 1982 they were re-
quired to request an exemption to the “Fuel Use Act.” Today, natural gas
is the fuel of choice for power generation, and certainly for cogeneration.
This is for environmental reasons, but also because of available
resources, and ease of operation and maintenance. While current day
prices have spiked due to delivery capacity and poor planning, future
prices will likely remain stable as a result of the current drilling and
pipeline construction programs.
Relative to the referenced article, it is important to have a “Blue-
print” that doesn’t lock in specific operating conditions. When people
think of cogeneration, most think of a secondary energy use riding pig-
gyback on a primary energy use.