Combined Heat and Power Association

This article is part of the Climate project of Spinwatch.

The CHPA lobbies the government to take full advantage of CHP technology, seeing 'efficient generation' as a key aspect of climate change policy. Members include major UK generation and distribution networks. The CHPA shares offices at Grosvenor Gardens with a number of other carbon trading, offsetting and renewables/greenwash lobbyists. Ex-Director of the CHPA David Green is now CEO of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy, based in the same building.

Activities

In their own words:

'The aim of the CHPA is to promote the wider use of combined heat and power and community heating. To do this, the Association works with its members, Government and other non-Government organisations to:

• address the barriers that currently face CHP and Community Heating;
• ensure that when Government policies are developed they allow CHP and Community Heating to play their full role in delivering economic, social and environmental benefits to the UK;
• educate and inform Government, business and the wider community about the benefits of CHP and the great potential that exists in the UK to take advantage of it. '

Connection with waste incinerator industry

CHPA members include companies that operate waste incinerators. Incinerators have become highly controversial because of their polluting record and alleged links with disease in local people resulting from exposure to pollutants. The incineration industry has tried to rebrand its facilities as 'waste-to-energy' or 'combined heat and power' plants, in an attempt to associate it with environmentally friendly recycling.

For example, the SELCHP Waste to Energy Facility in London is a member of the CHPA. SELCHP is owned by the French waste company Onyx. The SELCHP incinerator has been the target of campaigns by local residents concerned about its record of pollution and alleged links with disease for many years. In 2002, in response to these concerns, Greenpeace volunteers shut the incinerator down for several days by climbing its chimney.

Mark Strutt from south London, one of the Greenpeace volunteers occupying the top of the chimney, said of the SELCHP incinerator:

The industry calls this incinerator a flagship but it is needlessly putting our children at risk. The government has warned us that one in three people already consume more dioxins than is safe and half of all babies and toddlers exceed that limit. Yet records show that this plant discharges large amounts of these dangerous chemicals and the Environment Agency do nothing about it.

According to Greenpeace, SELCHP's own figures show that in 2001 SELCHP emitted "enough dioxin every day to give 1 million people their maximum daily dose." The incinerator also exceeded permitted emissions limits for hydrogen chloride and particulates.

Greenpeace stated in a press release about their occupation of the incinerator chimney:

SELCHP claims to be a "combined heat and power station", however the system for supplying heat to the local community has never been installed. SELCHP does supply electricity to the national grid but generating energy from waste this way is extremely inefficient. It is a huge waste of energy to remanufacture materials that are burnt instead of recycling them. Burning plastics, which are made from oil, also gives off global warming gases. Britain already has a massive resource of green energy such as wind, wave and solar power and investing taxpayer's money in so called 'energy from waste' schemes is depriving these genuine sources of money.

Affiliations

AEA leading low carbon policy consultants for the UK government regularly work with the CHPA.

People

Ex Director David Green is now CEO of UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy

Graham Meeks Director

Ian Manders Deputy Director

Paul Gardiner Head of Policy

Michael King Associate

Tom Fern Communications Manager

Peter Smith Research & Membership Manager

Craig Dennett Researcher

Funding

BAXI group- a Europe wide heating systems supplier was the primary sponsor of their 2008 conference. ENER.G | Cooperative bank | Nabbarro | AEA Technology also sponsored the event.

Members

According to the CHPA website as at November 2009, these are:

Aberdeen City Council | AECOM | Aircogen CHP Solutions - a business unit of Dresser-Rand | ATCO Power Generation Limited | Aylesford Newsprint Ltd | Boots Company | BRE | British Sugar plc | Centrax Ltd | City of London Corporation | Clarke Energy Ltd | Cofely | Cogenco Ltd | ContourGlobal | Co-Operative Financial Services | Delta Energy & Environment | Derwent Cogeneration Ltd | EDF Energy Ltd | Edina | Elyo UK Ltd | ENER-G Combined Power | E.ON UK | European Forest Resource Management LLP | ExxonMobil Power and Gas Services, Inc | Fontenergy | Future Energy Yorkshire | Future Green Solutions | Greater London Authority | Greenwich Council | London Borough of Islington | Leicester City Council | London Development Agency | Nabarro | Npower Cogen (Hythe) | Ove Arup & Partners International Ltd | Parsons Brinckerhoff | Pöyry Energy Ltd / Pöyry Energy Consulting | Px Limited | Saltend Cogeneration | RWE npower | Tanaris Limited | Ramboll | Scott Wilson | Scottish & Southern | Scottish Power plc | SELCHP Waste to Energy Facility | SembCorp Utilities (UK) Limited | Siemens Energy | SmartestEnergy | Southampton City Council | Thames Energy Ltd | University of Edinburgh | University of Warwick | Veolia ES Sheffield Ltd | Vital Energi Utilities Ltd | Woking Borough Council

Contact

Address: Combined Heat and Power Association, Grosvenor Gardens House, 35/37 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0BS

Registered office as above

Registered in London

No. 917116

Phone:Tel: 44 020 7828 4077

Fax: 44 020 7828 0310

E-mail: info (AT) chpa.co.uk

Website: http://www.chpa.co.uk