Carbon savings downplayed
December 1st 2005

The Government has downplayed the potential carbon savings that are available through CHP technology says a report published at the CHPA National Conference 2005 - CHP: Forward not back! The report argues that CHP can save over 20% of the Government's 20% carbon target.

A new report released at the Combined Heat and Power Association’s (CHPA) 2005 National Conference shows the substantial carbon reduction benefits delivered through the use of highefficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP).

The report's results highlight that the Government's current projections for carbon savings from CHP significantly downplay its potential in the Climate Change Programme.

CHPA Director David Green stated: "The Government acknowledges that existing CHP schemes save around 4 million tonnes of carbon each year. These schemes are exhaustively monitored by the Government to verify the savings are accurate.

However the Government's projections for future carbon savings for CHP to 2010, outlined in the Energy White Paper, bizarrely reduces the carbon saving potential of CHP by sevenfold!

"The research published today by the Association shows that, across a wide variety of plant, CHP delivers significant and demonstrable reductions in CO2 emissions - in some examples up to 10 times the levels projected by the Government! Achievement of the 2010 10 GWe CHP target would help deliver over 20% of the Government's 20% domestic carbon target."

The report, entitled Time to Take a Fresh Look at CHP... analyses the carbon savings from five types of CHP projects, ranging from microCHP (1kWe) up to a major industrial CHP scheme of 350 MWe.

In all cases, CHP carbon savings are between 3 and 10 times greater than the 0.1 million tonnes of carbon per GWe level stated in the Government's current projections.

David Green concludes: "A vast untapped potential of CHP capacity exists in the UK. The updated Climate Change Programme must ensure that CHP is used to underpin the ambitious carbon reduction targets the Prime Minister has set out, along with the Government's longstanding CHP target."

Time to Take a Fresh Look at CHP is available to download from www.chpa.co.uk.

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