Which term describes the principle of capturing waste heat from power plants to provide heating or cooling?

• A. Incineration
• B. Cogeneration
• C. Recycling
• D. Composting

Answer: (B)

Cogeneration, also called combined heat and power, is the practice of capturing the waste heat produced during electricity generation and using that heat to provide heating or cooling. This approach boosts overall energy efficiency because the same fuel produces both electricity and useful thermal energy, reducing the total fuel needed compared with generating heat and power separately. In real-world use, the captured heat can heat buildings through district heating systems or drive industrial processes, and it can even power cooling via absorption chillers, especially in combined heat and power plants or microgrids. The other options don’t describe this heat-recovery approach: incineration focuses on burning waste to recover energy or reduce volume, while recycling and composting deal with material resource recovery rather than extracting and repurposing heat from power generation.