By Gary Thomas
The U.S. Clean Heat & Power Association (USCHPA) has praised the introduction of the "Expanding Industrial Energy and Water Efficiency Incentives Act." The Act, which was introduced by the Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), may lead to increased investment in combined heat and power (CHP) as it expands the investment tax credit.
The increased investment may create 17,000 jobs that pay well and require high skills. The CHP Association calls upon the Senate to advance the Bingaman-Snowe measure. Presently, waste heat recovery systems are not considered under CHP and the available tax credit is 10% for 15 MW and has been limited to systems that are below 50 MW.
The new measure will increase the CHP ITC to 25 MW. The potential increased investment will increase CHP power production by 500 MW leading to CO2 emission reductions of more than 13 million MMT and 107 trillion BTUs of savings in energy.
CHP reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and helps lower energy costs. It reduces the dependence on conventional energy supplies. CHP is being utilized by commercial and industrial facilities, and the expansion of investment tax credit will help address the growing energy requirements.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has released a report on CHP which states that completion of deployment by 2030 will generate new investment of $234 billion, a million new jobs for Americans and contribute 20% of the power required for the nation.
Source: http://www.uschpa.org/