Combined heat and power (CHP)

Combined heat and power (CHP) systems integrate heat and electric power production, achieving efficiencies of 70 percent or more compared to less than 45 percent for separate production. In the United States, there are over 4,100 systems with more than 82 GW of installed capacity, primarily in the chemical (29%), petroleum refining (18%), and pulp and paper (14%) industries. The DOE and EPA estimate an untapped potential of 130 GW, which could save U.S. businesses $10 billion annually and further reduce CO2 emissions by 150 million tons per year. Beyond efficiency, CHP provides critical resilience during extreme weather events, as demonstrated during Hurricane Sandy and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While biomass-fueled CHP offers a path to net carbon negative operations by avoiding methane emissions from waste, widespread deployment is hindered by regulatory and legal barriers, including interconnection standards and backup power rates.

• CHP systems significantly outperform separate heat and power production in energy efficiency, reaching 70 percent or more, while separate production averages less than 45 percent.
• The United States currently has over 4,100 CHP systems with more than 82 GW of installed capacity, accounting for approximately eight percent of total U.S. electric power generation capacity. The chemical industry holds the largest share of this capacity at 29%, followed by petroleum refining at 18% and pulp and paper at 14%.
• Expanding CHP capacity by 40 GW could save U.S. businesses and industry $10 billion annually in energy costs, reduce national energy demand by one percent, and lower CO2 emissions by 150 million tons per year.
• CHP systems provide superior resilience compared to emergency electrical back-up generators during extreme weather, maintaining critical services for hospitals and wastewater treatment plants during events such as Hurricane Sandy and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
• Biomass-fueled CHP can be net carbon negative on a life cycle basis by substituting fossil fuels and avoiding methane emissions from the decomposition of forestry, agricultural, or urban waste.
• Despite a technical potential of 130 GW, CHP deployment in the U.S. is limited by regulatory and legal barriers, such as unfavorable interconnection standards, backup power rates, and a lack of critical policies in states with high coal retirement potential.

APA

Stowe, N. (2013). Combined heat and power (CHP). Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-combined-heat-and-power

Chicago

Stowe, Ned. Combined heat and power (CHP). Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2013. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-combined-heat-and-power.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stowe |first1=Ned |title=Combined heat and power (CHP) |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=22 May 2013 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-combined-heat-and-power |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stowe2013combined, author = {Stowe, Ned}, title = {{Combined heat and power (CHP)}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2013}, month = may, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-combined-heat-and-power}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }