Advantages
The advantage of having some "ownership" of one's electrical power was discussed above. Actual utility bill savings are probably minimal when looking at life-cycle cost of this approach as compared to a simple natural gas furnace.
There are definite pollution-reduction advantages if the unit is replacing an electric heating system powered by a coal power plant.
Also, like other distributed power systems, the end user can configure the unit as an emergency power source in the event of a power outage.
A big picture advantage of this approach is the ability to distribute power generation, locally, at the end-user rather than a remote power plant. If deployed on a large scale, this can reduce the need for new power plant installations and free-up transmission line capacity for other uses (e.g. solar energy or wind turbine farms). There is also the reduced long-range transmission losses. Avoiding transmission line losses and power plant construction reduces costs, energy consumption and pollution for everyone. In a fully realized distributed power generation scenario, micro-CHP may be used to supplement the less predictable generation provided by solar, wind and other energy sources, and therefore increase grid reliability.
Read more about this topic: Micro Combined Heat And Power
Famous quotes containing the word advantages:
“To say that a man is your Friend, means commonly no more than this, that he is not your enemy. Most contemplate only what would be the accidental and trifling advantages of Friendship, as that the Friend can assist in time of need by his substance, or his influence, or his counsel.... Even the utmost goodwill and harmony and practical kindness are not sufficient for Friendship, for Friends do not live in harmony merely, as some say, but in melody.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When the manipulations of childhood are a little larceny, they may grow and change with the child into qualities useful and admire in the grown-up world. When they are the futile struggle for love and concern and protection, they may become the warped and ruthless machinations of adults who seek in the advantages of power what they could never win as children.”
—Leontine Young (20th century)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)