The Fifth Fuel for Electricity
Mom knew the value of waste heat which she demonstrated when she bought the device that channeled some of the hot air from the clothes dryer back into our laundry room. With statistics showing that up to 2/3 of the BTUs in our fuels are wasted as heat going “up the stack” we need to do more about recycling this lost energy. It is relatively simple to think of ways to use just the heat value; converting the waste heat to electricity would be even better. Whether one calls it energy efficiency, energy optimization, cogeneration, or combined heat and power, when we generate electricity from “recycled energy” we have the equivalent of a “fifth fuel” to add to coal, natural gas, nuclear, and renewables. Generating electricity from waste heat is similar to renewables because it is a “use it or lose it” source of energy.
