More efficient energy made in your own home

I've come across quite a few conversations lately about alternative power generation and happened to stumble upon the fact that Calgary's local electricity provider (Enmax) has been experimenting with a new technology that could revolutionize the way we heat and power our homes.

The technology is called micro combined heat and power (microCHP) and the particular version of said technology I came across is the WhisperGen. It's basically a heat and power system based on a four cylinder Stirling engine. It produces electricity and hot water suitable for household use or space heating and burns natural gas (or diesel or kerosene). The advantage of this technology is that for about the same amount of natural gas currently used to heat a home, you can have hot water (to both heat the home and for showers, etc.) plus electricity. Much more efficient.

These systems are being sold as off-grid self-sustained power and heat systems for boats or remote dwellings and on-grid systems for heating and providing power with the ability to sell excess electricity back to the utility.