Technical Support Document for the Registry of Recoverable Waste Energy
Sources, Section 372 of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act
(EISA) 

Prepared by ICF International for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency

August 27May 7, 2008

CONTENTS

Evaluation of initial thresholds for the Registry of Recoverable Waste
Energy Sources and for the Survey of major industrial and large
commercial sources.

Evaluation of initial thresholds for the Registry of Recoverable Waste
Energy Sources and for the Survey of major industrial and large
commercial sources.

Introduction

Section 372 of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA)
calls for EPA to publish a rule to establish a Registry of Recoverable
Waste Energy Sources (Registry).  EPA intends to populate the Registry
through responses to an ongoing waste energy recovery survey (Survey),
also required under EISA.  The survey is designed to estimate the
potential for waste energy recovery projects at major industrial and
large commercial sources and the sites at which the sources are located
based on readily available information on the site and each potential
waste energy source at the site. 

EPA is proposing an initial and a secondary threshold for major
industrial sources and an initial and a secondary threshold for large
commercial sources.  The initial thresholds are used to determine which
facilities within the list of affected NAICS codes should receive the
Survey.  The secondary thresholds are used by the facilities that
receive the Survey to determine if they have sources with
characteristics suitable for a potential waste energy recovery
opportunity.  The proposed initial thresholds are:

Major Industrial Sources - facilities with a minimum of 100 MMBtu/hour
fuel use; 

Large Commercial Sources – facilities with a minimum 1 MW average
electric annual demand or 5 MMBtu/hour fuel input; 

In developing the proposed thresholds, EPA considered existing
thresholds from other EPA regulations that could be seen as affecting
major industrial or large commercial sources, including the New Source
Performance Standards. EPA also reviewed existing analysis of waste
energy projects tracked by the EPA CHP Partnership. This document
outlines additional analyses of the proposed thresholds considering
industrial and commercial energy consumption data and information on
existing CHP and waste heat recovery projects. 

Major Industrial Sources: 

The proposed major industrial initial threshold of 100 MMBtu/hr is the
New Source Performance Standard threshold for industrial boilers. In
terms of traditional CHP, a 100 MMBtu/hr fuel input for steam would
approximately equate to a 15 MW CHP system based on typical gas turbine
performance.  A review of existing CHP projects shows that systems of 20
15 MW or greater represent 95 96 percent of total installed industrial
CHP capacity (71,200 MW out of a total of 75,10074,450 MW).  Based on
the profile of existing industrial CHP, the larger industrial fuel
consumers most likely represent the bulk of the commercially viable CHP
potential in terms of MW capacity.  There are no corresponding data for
the other waste energy categories (one of the driving factors for the
survey and registry).  It would seem reasonable to assume that the
profile of opportunities for these waste energy categories would be
similar to the CHP profile.  A 100 MMBtu/hr furnace at 5060% efficiency
could support a waste heat to power system of 2 to 3 MW.  This size is
on the low end of current commercially viable systems.   

A review of private and public industrial energy consumption data
indicates that there are approximately 1,500 to 2,500 industrial plants
with total fuel input of 100 MMBtu/hr or higher.  

Large Commercial Sources: 

The proposed large commercial initial threshold of 1 MW average annual
electric demand or 5 MMBtu/hour is reflective of existing commercial
projects included in existing databases. Again, considering the existing
CHP profile for commercial applications, the 1 MW and greater segment is
the most commercially viable market with current technology and market
conditions.  Systems of 1 MW or larger represent 97 percent of the
existing CHP capacity in the commercial/institutional sector.

A review of private and public commercial energy consumption data
indicates that there are approximately 6,500 to 9,500 commercial
facilities with an average annual electric demand of 1 MW or a total
fuel input of 5 MMBtu/hour or greater.

 CHP Installation Database - 20072009, Maintained by ICF International
for U.S DOE/ORNL, www.eea-inc.com

 Of the 34 waste heat recovery for power projects included in the CHP
Installation Database, only four are below 5 MW in size; the smallest is
2.8 MW

 DOE Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey, EPA database of large
boilers, IHS Major Industrial Plant Database

 CHP Installation Database - 20072009, Maintained by ICF International
for U.S DOE/ORNL, www.eea-inc.com

 DOE Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey, IHS Commercial
Energy Profile Database

		

	

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