Why Uncertainty Matters

I recently spent time in Washington as part of a Business Advocacy effort. Energy professionals from 20 States went to Washington to talk to legislators to explain to them why their leadership is needed. Here is a link to one of the press reports of our efforts.

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=39961#middle

Please paste it in your browser to read a summary article.

I took time to go to Washington to speak to Indiana’s two Senators and four of its Congressmen. I went to make a clear request, “please make 2010 the year that America will get a meaningful energy plan and pass a mandatory Renewable Energy Standard”!

Today, America is in a state of confusion! Despite massive amounts of funds being proposed for spending on the development of green renewable energy, very little money has actually been awarded. Many projects are being delayed until lenders and project developers get clear direction as to where the country is going!

Today, twenty eight States have passed some form of Renewable Energy Standard, or Voluntary Energy Standard, or Renewable Energy Standard. But, none are exactly the same. Some propose a target that 15 % of all electric energy comes from green energy sources by 2015, some 20% by 2020, some more, some less. The definition of what a “renewable energy standard” is varies from State to State!

Lenders are confused. Project developers are confused. Nothing is being done! Now is the time for leadership. Hopefully our Federal government will be part of that leadership. If not, we hope they will at least get out of the way and let private enterprise take the lead!

How can your help? Call your Senator or Congressman. Ask them what they are doing to make sure a bill passes in 2010! We cannot let partisan politics stop America’s march to green renewable power development! Get involved or get out of the way!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 476-6911.

What Makes “Energy Efficiency” Green?

In the news you hear a lot about “green” and renewable power. We think of wind, solar or biomass projects. But, would it surprise you to know that a number of States and the Federal Government also view energy efficiency as “green”. Well, they do.

When you stop to think about it, it makes good sense. What better way to benefit the Earth than to use much more of the energy that we consume every day! The average power plant often operates with an energy efficiency of 30 – 40 %. Over half the energy of the fuel is wasted! How much ‘greener” can you get than to use more of the energy that we consume!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is very active in cogeneration and tri-generation designs. We can show you how to put the power of Combined Heat and Power to work for you and your projects!

A well designed CHP project can often save capital costs and O&M costs! We can show you how to increase your project profits and be “green”! Contact REM to find out how!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 476-6911.

Where are the Green Pastures?

Today there is a lot of focus on green renewable power. The Federal government has made green renewable power a priority. But, what makes a good green power project? Some states are better than others for various reasons. How do you differentiate them? How do you evaluate them?

Where are the “greenest” pastures? Rudd Energy Management (REM) can help.

REM has developed proprietary software that can quickly identify the best green projects for you. We can tell you what states have the highest wholesale power prices, the highest retail power prices, what the green power premiums are in each state, what biomass fuels exist in each state and how much reliable supply is there. We have the data you need.

REM can help you identify the best state for your type of green power project, whether they are solar, wind or biomass. REM can help you understand your options and can advise you on how to maximize your project’s value. Sound interesting? Contact REM to see how we can help you get your projects going forward today.

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 476-6911.

Has Your “net” Developed a Hole?

Has your “net” power gone down? Do you know why?

Plant designs have changed a lot over the years to allow for emissions equipment additions and for equipment changes. Often the auxiliary loads have gone up understandably. Often, but not always.

Sometimes increases in aux loads are not understandable and not necessary. Sometimes it is a matter of looking at old operations practices. With new equipment, perhaps you only need one pump on instead of two as you traditionally operated. Perhaps you can switch to low speed on your ID fans at lower load. The list of “possibilities” is endless. Do you know where to look?

Have you done a review of your “new plant” practices? You spent the money to comply. You are paying a price in more aux load and more restrictive operations practices. Are you paying too high a price? Can you reduce your costs? Let Rudd Energy Management help you find out!

We can supply people to come in to look at your practices with “fresh eyes”. We can help you evaluate your plant for savings that may be “hidden”. Give us a call so we can give you a hand.

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 464-7054.

Tags and Categories: Aux Load, Auxiliaries, Walk downs, Efficiency, Heat Rate,

Is Your Project Management “Costing” You?

Today, more than ever, capital dollars are hard to come by. Are you getting everything you can from your capital dollars? Do you have enough people to control your projects? Do you have good project management? Do you have enough “eyes”, “hands on” and “planning” people on board to help you get it done on time and within budget?

Having experienced people to help you control your projects can be crucial. We have experienced people that have probably seen projects like yours. We have worked through some of the same problems. Maybe we can apply “lessons learned” to your projects so you experience the savings!

We can provide people for outage support or new equipment installation. Can you benefit from experienced people to help your personnel? Can cost effective project management help you control your costs? Let Rudd Energy Management help you find out!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 464-7054.

How Accurate Are Your Project Assumptions?

Projects are done based on assumptions. Whether the assumptions are on performance, or cost, or benefits, they are still “assumptions”. How good are they? Can you make them better?

When a typical spreadsheet analysis is done, it is done with ‘deterministic” values. We expect the value to be “6”. Yet, we know that the number could be as low as 4 and as high as 9. We expect 6, but there is a belief that the value could vary. What effect could that variance have on your project?

What happens in a complex project when you have a lot of variables. What happens if all of your assumptions are too high? Too low? Rudd Energy Management (REM) can help you find out.

REM can help you model your projects with “stochastic” analysis. We can work with you to understand your assumptions and model them to allow for variance. What happens if everything goes wrong? If you do experience a “big bad outcome”, how “bad” is it? REM can help you allow for it.

Risk is part of all projects. But, you do not have to ignore it. You can allow for it. You can make better projections. Let REM show you how!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 476-6911.

Where are the Green Pastures?

Today there is a lot of focus on green renewable power. The Federal government has made green renewable power a priority. But, what makes a good green power project? Some states are better than others for various reasons. How do you differentiate them? How do you evaluate them?

Where are the “greenest” pastures? Rudd Energy Management (REM) can help.

REM has developed proprietary software that can quickly identify the best green projects for you. We can tell you what states have the highest wholesale power prices, the highest retail power prices, what the green power premiums are in each state, what biomass fuels exist in each state and how much reliable supply is there. We have the data you need.

REM can help you identify the best state for your type of green power project, whether they are solar, wind or biomass. REM can help you understand your options and can advise you on how to maximize your project’s value. Sound interesting? Contact REM to see how we can help you get your projects going forward today.

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 476-6911.

Are “Traps” Robbing You?

I have taken a number of trips to China. Though the industrial model of the world, a quick look tells you that there are improvements to be made. I remember during a trip in early 2008 looking out the window as I traveled from Hangzhou to Nanjing. The roofs of countless large factories were an eruption of steam venting to the air. Money going down the tubes! Or, should I say “up the stack”?

When you are focused on production, that can happen. But, the savings of getting control of you steam and hot water losses can be enormous!

A simple program to check your steam traps periodically can pay off big time! Whether you do a manual walk down of your systems and use manual inspection, temperature measurement, ultrasonic or infra red measurement, is not as important as doing something! There are a lot of ways to improve!

Do the math! Look at your flow diagrams. Look at the energy of the steam or hot water and do a quick estimate of the cost. If it is “clean” water, allow for additional water clean up costs. That in itself will often justify a steam trap program!

Does the excessive heat loss and resulting temperature build up in the plant cause early controls failures? When you step back and look at all the losses, you quickly grasp what you are losing. It is high! Now, start taking it back!

Have you done a comprehensive review? Do you have it under control? How much could you save? Are there cost effective steps that you could take right now? Let REM help you find out!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 464-7054.

Putting Monte Carlo Simulation to work for YOU!

One of the toughest things to do when you are trying to fix a problem is identify the result. What will the real savings be?

You can measure the costs. Often you can track repair expenses, heat rate detriment and its cost, etc. But, how do you estimate the savings once you spend the money?

Often a spreadsheet is used. I have seen some pretty good ones. I have seen some pretty detailed ones. But, it all comes down to an estimate of the benefits.

Your spreadsheet says the savings will be $ 600,000, but are you really sure? You really think it may be as low as $ 400,000 and it could be as high as $ 1,000,000! How do you allow for the range? How do you model it? Monte Carlo simulation can help!

Instead of using a “number”, you can use a range. Instead of making your number deterministic, you can make it stochastic. Let it vary! You can set up the range, the conditions, and the “correlation” with other variables. You can make your spreadsheet reflect what you actually expect to happen!

You’ve done the work. You know the solution and the expected range of results. Now, you can easily improve your spreadsheets to give you and management a confidence level to make better decisions. Let REM show you how!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 464-7054.

Who is a good candidate for CHP?

In America’s quest to become more energy efficient, we hear more and more about CHP. But, some energy users are more likely to benefit than others.

As I mentioned in a previous article, to be a good CHP candidate, you need a significant and stable “thermal” load. By that, I mean you need to be using heat in your process. You are currently burning more fuel to heat the building, add heat to your business process, etc.

But, the list does not stop with industrial users. What are examples of some good commercial or services industry candidates for CHP? How about a school, a college/university, a hospital, a water park, a casino, a hotel, …. There are many potential ways to use CHP wisely!

What REM does is help you discover your thermal energy needs. We try to size your CHP system to provide most/all of your thermal load needs. We do this by generating electricity and using the abundant, and free, waste heat!

The result? Your energy costs to provide your thermal energy needs drops to near zero, while we produce large portion of your electrical needs more efficiently! This is a classic “win-win”! Let REM show you how!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 464-7054.

What is CHP?

The Obama stimulus bill contains a lot of focus on energy for our future. Making America more energy efficient is important! It will be critical for America as we face our future!

Frequent reference is made to CHP. But, what is CHP anyway?

CHP often is referred to as Combined Heat and Power. It is essentially a form of electricity generation that uses the fuel energy to make useful electricity and to provide useful thermal energy. Why does that matter?

A typical electric utility plant generation gets an efficiency of 30 – 40 %. Only 30 – 40 % of the energy of the fuel is used. The rest of the energy is wasted and released into the environment into the air or water systems!

Power plant can sometimes be designed for cogeneration, where it captures a lot of the waste heat through steam and power generation. This makes it is able to use much more of that energy! Instead of using 30 – 40 % of the fuel’s energy, we can reach efficiency of 85 % or more! Another way of getting much better energy efficiency is CHP.

CHP is becoming more and more popular. CHP units can be used for large residential applications, commercial applications or industrial applications. Frequently the design uses a high efficiency electric generation unit for the electric power and then it uses the resulting “waste” heat for other “thermal” uses such as building heating, process heating, hot water heating, steam use, etc.

The key to a good CHP design is finding a good “thermal” load. REM has found that when we find a user that needs electrical power and has a good thermal we often have a great opportunity for CHP! Let REM help you put the power of CHP to work for you!

Rudd Energy Management (REM) is an energy consulting company that specializes in cost effective solutions. REM prides itself in matching experienced professionals with your problems to ensure the best solution in the shortest time possible. Contact us at (219) 464-7054.