By John Trotti

Here we are less than three months into the year and yet we’ve already seen headlines screaming about the loss of power for millions … something we don’t expect until the third quarter of the year. This concern is matched by the continued rise in the price of fuel, which is bound to have an impact on energy rates as we move further into the year. So maybe it’s time once again to consider just how reliable and efficient your enterprise’s energy
situation is.

“Compared to what?” you may ask yourself, which opens up a whole bunch of questions as to what constitutes sufficiency in either reliability or efficiency. Well how about using your local power utility as a starting point? Has it kept pace with the changing demands you and your neighbors are placing on it? If the answer is guarded—particularly if you live and do business in an area prone to nature’s violence—then it’s time to take a closer look at your own physical plant and operations.

It is one thing to say to yourself, “Yes, with our increasing reliance on computers and communications, my business would be dead in the water without backup power,” and quite another to see in this “cost of doing business” an opportunity to stabilize and perhaps even lower your overall costs. Yet in case study after case study Distributed Energy has presented over the years, that’s exactly what we have seen. Moreover, in many of these cases the benefits have been unanticipated, where a relatively minor amount of onsite power has let to a disproportionate reduction in operating costs.

Infrastructure at a Crossroad
Along with Distributed Energy, Forester Media publishes four other infrastructure-related journals (Stormwater, Erosion Control, MSW Management, and Water Efficiency) aimed at professional audiences, a situation that makes us acutely aware of the common denominators and barriers that exist among their subjects. The areas of command and control, once in the hands of predominantly local interests, have gravitated inexorably to higher and more remote levels of centralization, a situation not well suited to the demands and changes taking place in our society.

Over the last half-century we have undergone a transition from a rural to an urban society, a trend that is taxing our ability to deliver new energy and water services and overwhelming those already in existence. I’ve listened to estimates for the repair, replacement, and upgrade of our existing infrastructure between now and mid-century range from $15 trillion to $30 trillion … figures, mind you, predicated on fighting a rear-guard action.

If our energy infrastructure appears to be in better shape than our water and transportation systems, it’s because we have the ability to go outside the system to redress its faults. While it’s not the solution, distributed power generation is certainly a strong component.

Over the years, Distributed Energy has had the opportunity to report on some very interesting projects as they’ve come online, presenting them in ways that should help resolve a lot of the reservations those still working through the options and issues associated with onsite power selection have in determining your best course of action.

In this regard, of the 61 articles we presented in 2007, 51 were case studies detailing the challenges and opportunities others have faced in fielding distributed energy projects. Consider our record so far:

• We’ve reported on projects using wind, solar, diesel, natural gas, landfill gas, sewage-water methane, biostock, and hydrogen as fuel for large and small turbines and internal-combustion engines, along with several direct-use applications.
• We’ve looked at simple systems, CHP systems, cogen, and trigen applications on the supply side of the energy equation, as well as a half-dozen peak-shaving and energy-demand-lowering approaches.
• We’ve looked at regulatory and legal issues and assessed state and federal incentive programs designed to jump-start distributed energy projects.
• We’ve delved into maintenance issues and financing opportunities, and stuck our nose under the tent of new technologies, renewables, and environmental credits.

The point we’ve tried to emphasize throughout the entire time is that energy security is your responsibility and that an energy audit ought to be an ongoing process rather than occasional activity. It can be as simple or as detailed as other performance audits you employ in your business and be accorded the same consideration.

Send John an E-mail

DE - March/April 2008