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Small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) for residential applications has been demonstrated in different regions throughout the world. CHP can enable resilience in energy supply and serve as a transitional technology as the grid progresses to higher fractions of low carbon electricity production. However, there are very limited feasibility assessments in the context of US climate zones, policies, and economic factors. To address this gap, we assess how the economic feasibility and emissions impact of a small-scale, natural gas CHP system compares considering the local electrical grid in seven climate zones and six subgrid regions across the United States. This is accomplished using an in-house Python program alongside EnergyPlus that is used to size the CHP and/or thermal storage systems according to representative electrical and thermal demand profiles for multifamily residential buildings, optimizes CHP and thermal storage energy dispatch throughout the year to meet demands, assesses the system’s economic feasibility, and calculates the carbon emission reduction or increase relative to the local electrical grid. For the baseline cases considered, carbon emissions can be reduced by up to 12% for regions with high required thermal load and/or electricity derived from high carbon emitting sources. In many scenarios, carbon emissions increased. Furthermore, the economic feasibility of the systems, even considering recent incentives, remains a significant barrier. The resulting Python program is open-source and designed for use by both researchers and building owners to conduct their own small-scale CHP feasibility assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world's energy supplies will continue to be 'pressured as the population grows and the standard of living rises in the developing world. A move by the rest of the world toward energy consumption rates on par with the United States is most probably unsustainable. An examination of population trends, current energy utilization rates, and estimated reserves shows that a major worldwide transition to renewable resources is necessary in the next 100 years. This paper examines one possible scenario of how energy usage and renewable power generation must evolve during this time period. As the global standard of living increases, energy consumption in developing nations will begin to approach that of the developed world. A combination of energy conservation and efficiency improvements in developed nations will be needed to push the worldwide energy consumption to approximately 200 million Btu per person per year. Fossil fuel resources will be exhausted or become prohibitively expensive, necessitating the development of renewable energy resources. At this projected steady state population and energy consumption, the required contribution of each type of renewable resource can be calculated. Comparing these numbers to the current renewable capacities illustrates the enormous effort that must be made in the next century. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4001574] Keywords: sustainability, sustainable development, renewable energy, fossil fuel, energy demand, energy consumption, energy projections