Gas turbine design is all about achieving a balance of efficiency and reliability, according to how the turbine is to be used. Lynne Anderson discusses how Siemens' newest turbine works for cogeneration applications.

The US Department of Energy works with eight regional partner organizations to promote CHP, waste heat recovery and distributed energy technologies around the country. This article summarizes the work of the Northwest Clean Energy Application Center, based in Washington state, and draws upon three of its case study publications.

All power producers, including those operating CHP plants, are looking for new ways to boost performance, raise energy efficiency, lower environmental loads and minimize the use of raw materials. The answer often lies in advanced automation solutions that provide a multitude of tools, writes Jukka Pyykkö.

The UK has announced that local governments will be allowed to sell electricity to households for the first time since 1976. In a preview piece for a new book, Stephen Tindale and Prashant Vaze of renewable energy consultant Climate Answers argue, using case studies from Europe and the US, that by localizing energy and energy efficiency policy, the widely-recognized and urgent need to invest in low-carbon energy can be met.

European efforts to increase energy efficiency are too focused on measures to improve end-use efficiency, and largely ignore the potential to reduce huge losses incurred in the electricity supply system, writes COGEN Europe's Fiona Riddoch. The challenge is to stimulate the much wider use of cogeneration across the continent.

Wastewater treatment plants are a classic application for CHP, as the fuel, power and heat loads are all present. Here, Ed Ritchie reports from one plant which has also added solar PV, on-site wind and hydro power to reach the point where it supplies all its energy requirements.

What do the Kimberley-Clark Corporation, the Californian city of San Diego, the US Air Force, the Encina Wastewater Authority, hair products manufacturer Zotos International and the City of Ann Arbor in Michigan have in common?

If there was an upside to the global recession it is that it gave us a temporary reprieve from the pressures from the rising demand and price of oil. We were lulled into another cycle of energy apathy by a period of relatively low and stable prices.