In what could be a break-through moment for combined heat and power technology (CHP), also known as cogeneration, the President today announced a national goal to increase industrial energy efficiency in the U.S by deploying 40 gigawatts of new CHP generated power by 2020. Industry and regulators alike recognize that the energy efficiency and pollution- reducing potential of CHP is being stymied by traditional regulatory and permitting programs that fail to account for the full production value of systems that produce both heat (e.g. steam or hotwater) and electric power, often off-setting the cost and pollution associated with off-site power plant generation. The Executive Order requires the Department of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture and the USEPA to coordinate “existing Federal authorities, programs, and policies,” to support investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP. Specifically, the Order references “accounting for the potential emission reduction benefits of CHP and other energy efficiency policies when developing State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to achieve national ambient air quality standards,” to provide “set-asides for emission allowance trading program SIPS, grants and loans,” and to employ “out-put based approaches as compliance options in power and industrial sector regulations” to recognize the emissions benefits of highly efficient technologies such as CHP. READ THE ORDER at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/30/executive-order-accelerating-investment-industrial-energy-efficiency.