Trigeneration in Supermarkets: Investment Brief
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Why Trigeneration?
This report is intended for use by Business Development directors of Supermarkets with an international presence. It collects and interprets information pertaining to potential investment in Trigeneration technology. This includes; a review of the driving forces behind the developing trend towards renewable energy and sustainable energy technologies; what is required for the operation of the technology, the potential for return on investment.
Drawing together statistics and research the report highlights the debate surrounding human impact on a stable ecological environment, and the reliance of business on energy, the generation of which is tantamount to risking the future health of business’s profitability due to the fuels used, inefficiency of generation and distribution, and the effects of the resultant pollution. The cost of Global warming is difficult to measure as the scale is impossible to predict, however worst case scenarios most certainly involve disruption of mainstream energy networks, making independent energy generation methods even more valuable.
In laymen’s terms, Trigeneration squeezes much more energy out of the same fuel than traditional generation methods by using ‘Combined Heat and Power Technology’ (CHP) and incorporating refrigeration by the Absorption method. Both will be explained in this paper. Developed in the 1970’s CHP or Co-Generation is a tried and tested, very efficient system of simultaneously generating heat and electrical energy. In optimum conditions – where the device is in use almost constantly, a CHP can be up to 90% efficient, meaning that more of the energy from the fuel can be used instead of lost in transmission. It is feasible nonetheless, to generate electrical energy and profit from it via transporting it though existing networks; however, it is not practical to transport heat or generate income from it in the same way. Generation of heat must be produced locally to the
Why Trigeneration?
This report is intended for use by Business Development directors of Supermarkets with an international presence. It collects and interprets information pertaining to potential investment in Trigeneration technology. This includes; a review of the driving forces behind the developing trend towards renewable energy and sustainable energy technologies; what is required for the operation of the technology, the potential for return on investment.
Drawing together statistics and research the report highlights the debate surrounding human impact on a stable ecological environment, and the reliance of business on energy, the generation of which is tantamount to risking the future health of business’s profitability due to the fuels used, inefficiency of generation and distribution, and the effects of the resultant pollution. The cost of Global warming is difficult to measure as the scale is impossible to predict, however worst case scenarios most certainly involve disruption of mainstream energy networks, making independent energy generation methods even more valuable.
In laymen’s terms, Trigeneration squeezes much more energy out of the same fuel than traditional generation methods by using ‘Combined Heat and Power Technology’ (CHP) and incorporating refrigeration by the Absorption method. Both will be explained in this paper. Developed in the 1970’s CHP or Co-Generation is a tried and tested, very efficient system of simultaneously generating heat and electrical energy. In optimum conditions – where the device is in use almost constantly, a CHP can be up to 90% efficient, meaning that more of the energy from the fuel can be used instead of lost in transmission. It is feasible nonetheless, to generate electrical energy and profit from it via transporting it though existing networks; however, it is not practical to transport heat or generate income from it in the same way. Generation of heat must be produced locally to the
References: EnergyMeasures. 2011 How CHP Works, Energy measures. [online] http://www.energy-measures.com/chp/how_chp_works.php Accessed March 09 2011 PublicResourceOrg via YouTube 2011 Cardiff University. 2011. Weslsh School of Architecture. Tervola Small-scale CHP Bio Energy Plant [online] Available at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/archi/programmes/cost8/case/energy/tervola.html Accessed March 16 2011] CHPA. 2011. Bringing Energy Together. Combined Heat & Power Association. [online] Available at http://www.chpa.co.uk/huhne-we-need-more-chp-to-calm-the-perfect-storm_293.html Accessed March 16 2011 Modern Building Services Journal 3: GE Power. 2011 Trigeneration: | Combining heat, cooling and power | [online] available at http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/recip_engines/en/cogen_systems/refrigeration.htm Accessed March 22nd 2011