The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized two Department of Defense (DoD) facilities with the Energy Star Combined Heat and Power (CHP) award for taking an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single source. By using CHP technology, the award winners demonstrated leadership and a commitment to protecting people's health and the environment while reporting annual energy 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,” said 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.”

The CHP awards were presented to the following facilities at today’s International District Energy Association’s Annual Campus Energy Conference in Arlington, Va.:
• U.S. Army Garrison Fort Bragg, N.C.
• U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

CHP technology produces both electricity and steam/hot water from a single heat source, using fuels such as natural gas, biomass, or wasted energy. By using this technology, the bases' CHP systems achieved operating efficiencies of nearly 65 percent, much higher than the efficiency of separate production of electricity and thermal energy (typically less than 50 percent). 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. As the largest U.S. energy consumer, DoD recognizes that reliable energy supplies for its military installations are critical to our nation’s security.

Established in 2001, EPA’s CHP Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages the use of CHP to reduce the environmental impact of power generation. The partnership works closely with energy users, the CHP industry, state and local governments, and other energy stakeholders to facilitate the development of new projects and to promote energy, environmental and economic benefits.