Gulf Coast Clean Energy Application Center

CHP Fuels

CHP is not a fuel-specific technology. Even with price volatility in natural gas markets in recent years, natural gas is still the predominant fuel for CHP systems. While natural gas will continue to be an important fuel, the ability of CHP systems to operate on diverse fuels - including coal, oil, biomass, wood, and waste fuels such as landfill and digester gas—makes them key to developing a balanced and sustainable energy portfolio.

CHP Sites by Fuel Type	CHP Capacity by Fuel Type

Source: EEA/ ICF International

Additional resources:

Opportunities and Resources for Biomass Combined Heat and Power - U.S. EPA CHP Partnership
Combined Heat and Power Market Potential for Opportunity Fuels - U.S. DOE (Dec. 2004)
Natural Gas Price Effects of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Practices and Policies - ACEEE (Dec. 2003)
Natural Gas and Energy Price Volatility - EEA/ORNL (Oct. 2003)
Biomass for Heat and Power - Forest Products Journal (Feb. 2002)
Natural Gas Impacts of Increased CHP - EEA (Oct. 2003)
Natural Gas Use in Distributed Energy - Onsite Energy (Oct. 2000)
High Natural Gas Prices and the Updated Market for CHP - World Energy Engineering Congress (Sept. 2004)
Biomass to Energy: Present Commercial Strategies and Future Options - NREL (Jan. 2003)
Texas: Estimation of Woody Biomass Availability for Energy in Texas - Texas Department of Agriculture (Dec. 2008)

U.S. Department of Energy Gulf Coast Clean Energy Application Center
4800 Research Forest Drive
The Woodlands, TX 77381