The EPA has recognized two DoD facilities with the Energy Star Combined Heat and Power (CHP) award for utilizing CHP technology to generate clean, efficient, and reliable thermal energy. The U.S. Army Garrison Fort Bragg, NC, and the U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, CA, were both presented with the award.
By using CHP technology, these facilities were able to protect people’s health and the environment. These clean technologies also allowed these locations to report estimated savings of $6.8 million.
“I congratulate these military bases for leading by example in the efforts to reduce pollution, improve energy efficiency, and cut energy costs,” says Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “These advanced CHP systems give us reliable, clean and cost cutting ways to keep our military bases powered and our environment protected.”
CHP technology produces both electricity and steam/hot water from a single heat source, using fuels like natural gas or wasted energy. By using this technology, the bases' CHP systems achieved operating efficiencies of nearly 65%, much higher than the efficiency of separate production of electricity and thermal energy (typically less than 50%).
Based on this comparison, the CHP systems avoided carbon pollution equal to that from the electricity used by more than 4,000 homes. The CHP systems also increase the bases’ energy security and reliability because the systems can run independently in the event of a power outage.
