Colorado renewable propane project selected by DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $10 million in funding for a renewable energy project in Colorado.

A partnership with the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), Colorado State University and 2G Energy will examine decarbonized district energy systems with renewable propane-powered combined cooling heat and power (CCHP).

“District energy systems provide multiple buildings with heating and/or cooling from a central plant,” says Jim Bunsey, director of commercial business development at PERC. “These systems increase efficiency and reduce emissions compared to individual building systems. They also provide a reliable and resilient source of thermal energy that is particularly useful for large energy users such as manufacturing facilities, health care campuses and military bases.”

The university will conduct a field demonstration of an integrated CCHP unit in a district energy system that uses the waste heat to drive a turbo-compression chiller, a technology developed at the university.

“The research will help show that district energy systems can operate seamlessly with renewable fuels,” Bunsey says. “By incorporating propane-powered CHPs into these systems, it’s possible to provide necessary energy services in conjunction with on-site solar generation and simultaneously support the electrical grid.”

The Colorado project is one of six that was selected by the DOE to receive funding from the advanced manufacturing office through the Technical Partnerships Funding Opportunity.

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