Modeling Distributed Electricity Generation in the NEMS Buildings Models

摘要

Distributed generation refers to the production of electricity in a decentralized facility in the present context, a building. This nontraditional electricity source has the advantage of allowing the capture of the waste heat from generation, thereby off setting the energy requirements of other end uses and potentially lowering total energy requirements across multiple end uses (i.e., the combined requirements for electric energy, space heating energy, and water heating energy). This paradigm contrasts with central generation, where waste heat is often a negative externality that is emitted directly into the biosphere. In addition to utilizing heat energy that would otherwise be wasted, on-site generation has the additional efficiency benefit of avoiding the transmission and distribution losses associated with centralized generation and, possibly, the need for upgrades to transmission and distribution grids. Currently, the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) buildings models characterize several distributed generation technologies: conventional oil or gas engine generation, combustion turbine technologies, and newer, still developing technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PV), fuel cells, and microturbines. This paper describes the modeling techniques, assumptions, and results for the Annual Energy Outlook 2000 reference case. In addition, a series of alternative simulations are described, and key results for distributed generation are presented.