Mon, 28 May 2012
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Finance & Business
Business
Electricity made at home saves money and the environment
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Energy producer Eneco has installed 50 electricity-generating boilers in Dutch homes, to determine if decentralised energy production works in practice—and if it makes a profit.Fifty homes in the Netherlands are now able to generate electricity as well as heat their homes via their boilers. Energy producer Eneco has installed 50 HRe boilers—ordinary heating boilers with a built-in generator—as part of a field test to determine if decentralised energy production works in practice. Of course, the company also wants to see if it's profitable.
Eneco spokesperson Saskia Streekstra explains how it works:
"The HRe boiler functions like a normal high-efficiency boiler, producing warmth and hot water, but it is unique in that it also produces electricity. Everything that occurs within the home that has to do with using hot water or heat sends a signal to the gas motor in the boiler to start producing electricity."
The generator is a Stirling engine; electricity is produced through heating and cooling gas within the closed-circuit chambers in the engine. The process is known as the Stirling cycle. As boilers produce warmth in abundance, it costs just seven percent more gas to produce electricity.
Huge savings
The savings are enormous: experts estimate that it could deliver savings of up to EUR 400 per year per household. It also reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1200 kg per year.
Frank van den Brink and Vera van Dam from Utrecht were the first people in the Netherlands to get an HRe boiler. It has been working for a month and Frank is fascinated by the meters.
"I've produced 17 kilowatts of energy this month, but it is summer so the boiler has only been producing warm water for the shower. I'm really curious to see what will happen this coming winter when the heating is on all the time. It'll start generating electricity like a mad thing."
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