MAKALE / ARTICLE resource configuration is equally superior to the use of combustion options. For every barrel of oil or cubic measure of gas that is not used to heat a building, the environmental benefits are significant. in most cases, that 'saved' fossil resource likely will be used elsewhere for centralized power generation or production of plastic, but the underlying principle of Green Heat is to use appropriate energy sources for the application. it does not make environmental (or economic) sense to use high-quality electricity from any source (including the output from a wind turbine) to heat potable water, when solar collectors can accomplish the same task with much lower impact. Drilling, extracting, refining, shipping and combusting natural gas or oil to heat a building to 20°c is also an incredulous mis-use of energy resources when there is a viable option to capture the sun's rays or to transfer absorbed solar heat from the ground. (1 will admit that I am partial to earth energy technology because it can provide space heating, water heating and space cooling from one unit, and research is underway to provide water cooling and refrigeration from the same box.) High-quality energy such as electricity should be reserved for high-quality loads such as computers, and leave lowgrade thermal loads for the appropriate Green Heat options. The economic benefits are equally compelling, and it is in this area where Green Heat must attract the interest of the market and convince consumers to adopt the range of technologies. Admittedly, some Green Heat installations do incur a higher first cost than conventional space conditioning systems but, with the growing diffusion of technologies, the number of times there is a premium, and the degree of premium, is declining. When costed on a lifecycle basis (even without factoring environmental externalities into the price), it is almost impossible to find a Green Heat design that does not yield a lower overall cost than any conventional system in either the residential you heard the oil or gas industry admit that their technologies are incurring a first-cost premium on a more frequent basis, as a result ofthe increasing competitiveness of renewables?) Costs can be addressed in a number of ways, and it often falls on governments to provide support for research that lowers the retail price to the consumer, direct subsidies for installations or outputs, or regulatory targets that require suppliers to 'voluntarily' increase their market share. lncreasingly, there is a willingness to accept the renewable energy argument that costing must reflect ali the expenses related to conventional energy sources, whether it be the environmental impacts of a coal generating facility or the clean-up of an oil spill or the military expenses required to keep the pipelines open. These costs will always be politically sensitive, but the trend is certainly heading in the right direction. lf global demand for energy supplies is to grow at the rates which are forecast for the next 50 years, the strain on existing and exploitable conventional resources will be stretched to the limit. One of the key awareness issues for Green Heat is to advocate that increased use of renewable energy technologies for space conditioning will displace significant quantities of natural gas and other fuels that can be diverted to use, for example, in generation or production of hydrogen, which will have a major impact on mitigating the price spikes (and availability) of conventional fuels in the short, medium and long term period. in the next issue of Refocus, this column will look at some of the measures that will be needed to ensure consumer understanding and acceptance of the various Green Heat technologies, which is a key 'first step' to moving forward in the promotion of the environmental and economic benefits to society. or commercial sector. (As an aside, when was the last time Kaynak: ReFocus Eylül _ Ekim 2004 IENERJi & KOJENERASYON DÜNYASI ♦ "Kojenerasyon: Yüksek Verim, Temiz Çevre, Enerjide Yeniden Yapılanma" 621
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