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Increase Power Plant Efficiency Using Existing Technology
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The University of Texas at Austin has increased its total annual energy production efficiency by almost 30% over the last 13 years. 150 million in energy efficiency improvements were paid for by reduced fuel consumption. Juan Ontiveros, director of Utilities and Energy Management explains how it was done using existing technologies and challenges other power plants to do the same.
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On February 9th, 2011 at 3:26 pm EwanNJ Said:
I read a story about this guy and it’s amazing what he has done here at UT (I’m sure it’s not just him). They make twice the power using the same amount of natural gas that was used in 1977. The most amazing part is that he says other power plants can do the same thing.
On February 9th, 2011 at 5:05 pm Steve Bible Said:
It is amaziing how much the energy efficiency has changed in the few years that Juan Ontiveros has been here at the University of Texas at Austin. Not only in terms of electrical generation, also, in steam and chilled water.
On February 9th, 2011 at 6:38 pm EAK Said:
This is the only solution (among the given choices) that can reduce fossil fuel consumption on the large scale right now, while we wait for alternative and renewable energy sources to be viable in the future. The best part is that it pays for itself!
On February 9th, 2011 at 7:07 pm Rob Thornton Said:
Juan Ontiveros and the team at UT Austin Utilities have demonstrated that district energy (steam and chilled water distribution) in conjunction with combined heat and power (CHP or cogeneration) is a proven, economically-compelling investment that can produce dramatic improvements in energy efficiency and cut emissions in our nation’s campuses, cities and communities.
Integrating cogeneration can and should be done RIGHT NOW across the United States in hundreds of college campuses and cities with existing district energy (thermal) networks.
It is not technology or engineering issues that hinder broader use of CHP but regulatory and policy hurdles that do not properly value thermal energy nor incent investments in energy efficiency.
UT Austin is now serving 17 million square feet of building space with the same amount of fuel that previously was consumed for 9 million square feet. In other words, while the campus real estate footprint doubled in size, the efficiency of their district energy system also doubled, resulting in essentially zero carbon growth for the new 8 million square feet of space on campus. UT Austin operates at fuel efficiencies of greater than 80% when compared to traditional electricity generating stations in the US at 32.7%. Those large power stations continue to exhaust waste heat to oceans, rivers and lakes while facilities like UT Austin put the surplus heat to work through their campus district energy system.
Having a large scale thermal district energy network using chilled water for air conditioning and steam for space heating and domestic hot water is essential infrastructure to unlock the efficiencies of scale for CHP. As global populations in cities continue to escalate rapidly, policy makers must embrace District Energy/CHP as a near term environmental strategy.
Please visit http://www.districtenergy.org for more information.
On February 10th, 2011 at 10:48 am Joe Said:
What starts here changes the world
On February 10th, 2011 at 11:58 am Bill Leahy Said:
It shows what foresight can do. It’s great to see UT set the example for the rest of the world.
On February 10th, 2011 at 2:10 pm Lorena Chavez Said:
WOW!!!
Fuel efficiency improvement from 30 to 87 %.
From a non-engineering person, like me, these numbers sound awesome!
On February 11th, 2011 at 7:09 am Shyam AK Said:
There couldn’t have been a better example than this when most of the power generating companies talk about 60% efficiency as the best. If the fuel efficiency could go upto 87%, what else could you ask for. This particular effort needs to be emulated world over as quickly as possible so the we do a great service in reducing the emissions into the atmosphere.
Hearty congratulations to him and the team.
On February 11th, 2011 at 11:14 am Philip Mullins Said:
Currently power plants are located in rural locations because no one wants one in their back yard. However with improved pollution controls and a heating/cooling district concept as described in this video I can envision a time when power plants will be located in the middle of residential/commerical developments to take advantage of the economies in both heating and cooling costs of homes and offices. What the power plant at UT Austin has done provides a model for new residential/commerical development that has the potential to greatly increase overall energy efficiency throughout the United States.
On February 11th, 2011 at 12:43 pm Carrie Winans Said:
Hey Philip!
Thanks for the comment. I think that you definitely bring up a good point. One of the hardest parts of energy design is finding something that is attractive and affordable. Everyone has a high level of standards for beauty and it’s hard to break through the standard once it’s set. There are a lot of really good ideas. This paper from West Virginia University also offers some excellent suggestions: http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/infores/pubs/ageng/epp13.pdf
On February 11th, 2011 at 10:03 pm Matthew Kresha Said:
The greenest energy is the energy not used. This is the Prius of power plants, where they get twice as much power using the same amount of fuel as 1977 (which is when I was born). To me efficiency is conserving our natural resources and that is what being green is all about using what we have in the most efficient and intelligent manor. Granted it is not as exciting as solar or wind, but efficiency is the first step we need to take in protecting our resources. Until such time as non-renewable resources are not in use it seems that this is the greenest step we can take at our current intersection. As such this plant should be highlighted so others may see the kind of concrete steps that can be taken.
On February 12th, 2011 at 10:34 pm Ryan T Said:
I wonder how applicable the techniques would be to utility-scale power plants (at least nat. gas fired), and without large capital outlays. I know there are pretty efficient combined cycle plants, but presumably that would be new construction.
On February 15th, 2011 at 5:13 pm Taylor Martin Said:
Any means that decreases large amounts of carbon and pays for itself in a relative short amount of time should be implemented immediately.