NOx Emissions Impacts from Widespread Deployment of CHP in ...

NOx Emissions Report
3. Replacement of grid power with CHP electricity reduces NOx at the utility power
plant, because CHP generated electricity produces far less NOx emissions than do
most utility power plants
4. CHP eliminates losses arising from the transmission and distribution of electricity
otherwise produced by central station generators and delivered via the grid.
This study estimates the potential NOx savings from widespread adoption of CHP in
industrial and commercial facilities across the eight-county HGB region. As shown in
Table ES-1, NOx savings are estimated to be in the range of 12.9 - 14.9 tons per day with
about two-thirds of the reduction arising from the industrial sector. By 2020, economic
and population growth in HGB is anticipated to create opportunities for further
deployment of CHP systems, which would likely result in even greater NOx reductions.
Table ES-1: Potential NOx Reductions in HGB from CHP
CHP Systems
Annual
Average
(tons/day)
Peak Ozone
Season
(tons/day)
Commercial Sector 2.9 – 4.9 5 - 9
Industrial Sector 10.0 11.7
Total HGB 12.9 – 14.9 17 - 21
While implementation of CHP reduces total NOx emissions, it also shifts the location of
NOx emissions. Whereas the conventional approach would primarily result in NOx
emissions at the utility power plants, which are located mostly outside of the eight county
region, use of CHP would relocate some of those emissions to those facilities adopting its
use. Thus, the geographical distribution of NOx emissions is changed through CHP
implementation. For HGB, this could mean that NOx emissions within the eight-county
region could increase, even though overall NOx emissions are reduced.
The actual impacts on the HGB region from NOx produced by utility power plants are
the key to assessing the overall NOx impact of CHP. The extent to which NOx emission
reductions resulting at utility power plants have a direct impact on lowering NOx and
ozone concentrations in HGB determines the overall benefit of CHP. As shown in the
figure below, this study suggests that CHP provides a net NOx benefit to HGB if more
viii