Why The Vegawatt™ Is Considered Green
(even though we're running a diesel engine!)

We Don't Add CO2!

As a biofuel generator, the Vegawatt™ is harnessing chemical energy that was captured in a farmer's field during the last growing season. This is in contrast to utilizing fossil fuel that captured energy millions of years ago. As we are releasing energy that was captured only last year, with a view over that time period, it can be said that a Vegawatt™ does not add any CO2 to the atmosphere.

Waste Not, Want Not -
A Better Way To Use WVO

The useful life of waste vegetable oil is finite. However, we're able to harvest a significant amount of useful energy. A Vegawatt™ creates energy from material that was being thrown away!

The Power Company Travelogue

Once electricity is generated at a large central plant, it is distributed through a network of high-voltage lines, sub-stations, transformers, and then down to the utility poles outside your restaurant. This infrastructure is constructed and maintained at considerable cost, and loses between 5% to 10% of the energy transmitted through it.

Vegawatt™ Power At Your Back Door

The Vegawatt™ system, by virtue of being on location, has no transmission grid, no transformers, no high voltage lines, etc. A Vegawatt™ delivers the electricity directly to the restaurant with no additional transmission infrastructure. In fact, the Vegawatt™ frees up transmission capability that was being utilized by the restaurant.

Looking To The Future

It is plausible that in a growing city, the installation of enough Vegawatts can reduce the need for additional electricity transmission lines into the city and that the installed vegawatts will be able to produce enough electricity in the heart of the city to keep pace with the need for more electrical transmission.

    

Owl Power Company Is Proud To Be A Member Of The EPA Combined Heat & Power Partnership

Certified To EPA Tier 4 Standards

A Vegawatt™ uses the cleanest diesel engine technology available, certified to U.S. EPA Tier 4 standards, the strictest available. This standard places strict limits on the emissions allowed from the engine. Automobiles sold in the US today comply with the lesser Tier 2 standard.

What The EPA Says About Combined Heat And Power (CHP) Systems

• CHP Systems Require Less Fuel
  CHP systems offer considerable environmental benefits when compared with purchased electricity and onsite-generated heat. By capturing and utilizing heat that would otherwise be wasted from the production of electricity, CHP systems require less fuel than equivalent separate heat and power systems to produce the same amount of energy.


• Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
  Because less fuel is combusted, greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2, as well as criteria air pollutants like NOx and SO2, are reduced.


• Reduce Co2 Emissions
  The use of biomass fuels in CHP, rather than natural gas or coal, further reduces CO2 emissions from heat and power production.


• A Net Zero Emitter Of CO2
  In addition to displacing the emissions of purchased fossil fuels that would otherwise be needed to separately generate thermal energy (rather than using captured waste heat), biogenic biomass is typically considered a net zero emitter of CO2 when used as a fuel for electricity and heat generation.


• EPA BioMass-CHP-Catalog
• EPA - Frequently Asked Questions about Combined Heat and Power

How Emissions Compare:
What 1 KW Of Electricity Costs In CO2 Production

• A Coal-fired electricity generator will burn roughly 1/2 a kilogram of coal to produce 1 kw of electricity, and release 1016 grams of CO2 in the process.
• A Fuel-oil (petroleum diesel) fired electricity generator will produce 1 kw of electricity and release 988 grams of CO2.
• A Natural-Gas-fired electricity generator, recognized as the cleanest fossil fuel energy producing method available, will produce 1 kw of electricity and release 670 grams of CO2 in the process.
• A Vegawatt™, running waste vegetable oil as fuel in a co-generator, will produce 1 kw of electricity and release 642 grams of CO2 in the process.

The Vegawatt™ Is A Clean Green Energy Machine

The Vegawatt™ is 5% cleaner than the cleanest power plant, 53% cleaner than a fuel-oil generator and 60% cleaner than the majority of power plants in the USA.