Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is an established technology sometimes referred to as cogeneration. In the process, electricity is generated very close to a site where the power is used. Residual heat from the generation is also used at the site, oftentimes for heating, cooling or for industrial or manufacturing processes.
Many industries across the country employ CHP. In fact, about 10 percent of energy use in the U.S. is derived from CHP. Nonetheless, a great deal of energy is lost as unrecovered, or waste heat. The federal Department of Energy would like to advance these efficient technologies.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Catalog of CHP Technologies in 2015. That publication notes that traditional industrial energy sources offer
efficiencies in the 45 to 50 percent range, while CHP applications can boost efficiencies up to 75 percent or more. Also, visit the EPA Combined Heat and Power Partnership web page for more information on CHP.
The U.S. Department of Energy offers a website devoted to "distributed energy" with an emphasis on CHP.