Is your car the better CHP?

The other day I explained to a visitor that his car would basically be the same like our wee domestic power plant ecopower, a CHP, a Combined Heat and Power unit. You should have seen his face's expression, but...

• the automobile's engine makes you cover miles; the heat generated from the engine's work keeps one warm, preferably in hard winters like just now;
• the CHP's engine makes a generator produce electricity; the heat generated from the engine's work keeps your house warm, pref...

That's putting it very basic, true; but it is spot on; Mike Cocking of Marathon, our American partner, reveals the "not so dark secrets" behind all that:

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And NO, your car is not the better CHP; among others it produces far more thermal energy (heat) than you need to be kept warm inside that small vehicle - even if it was a gigantic mobile home. That surplus of heat is radiated, i.e. blasted into the environment. Strangely enough that "wasted" heat is by far not discussed as much as GHG emissions are even though it definitely warms up the globe.

Our system produces just the "energies" (electricity and heat) that are needed to run our premises, no more, no less, no excess, no waste!

Okay, it does not carry you anywhere, but it is simple, reliable and very efficient; such systems will be the basic elements of what will become the intelligent grid and is strongly supported in many countries worldwide but the UK!

Why?

Carpe diem!