Search

Building footprints are a geographical indication of the spatial distribution of built-up infrastructure, thereby reflecting energy demand patterns, including heating requirements. Heating demands spatial distribution shown in heat atlases are primordial for evaluating district heating systems feasibility, which are a key decarbonizing technology that offers more sustainable heat supply in dense urban areas. Sustainable energy planning frameworks utilize district heating potentials as metrics for the formulation of alternate system configurations aimed at decarbonizing societies and creating an understanding of heating transition pathways. However, the availability and accessibility of the data needed for assessing these potentials is highly contextual and often challenges modelling processes. Simultaneously, there is a growing potential for open data and software mechanisms that could aid in addressing these challenges and create otherwise unavailable heat mapping resources. This paper describes the development of the ODHeatMap tool, a workflow built with open data in python functions that transform building footprints into a heat atlas. Ulaanbaatar city is used as a demonstration area for the tools functionalities, with the outputs being applied in a broader study aimed at developing strategies for Mongolia’s heating sector. The tool is accessible through a fully cloud-based environment and can be used in any given geographical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Studies show that energy efficiency should play a significant role towards achieving cost-efficient 100% renewable energy systems. One way to attain cleaner heating solutions for the future is to utilise waste heat from power plants and industry through district heating. In the European Union, approximately 50% of thermal energy is lost in conversion processes. This research paper investigates the potential for the implementation of district heating in a future energy system originally intended not to include district heating. The paper approaches the problem by utilising TIMES modelling to frame the initial future energy system. However, MARKAL/TIMES is not ideal to investigate the operation of different heating scenarios, due to a lack of hourly modelling. Hence, the study utilises EnergyPLAN to investigate the implementation of district heating as an alternative heating scenario to individual heating. EnergyPLAN allows for simulating the hourly operation of not only electricity systems but also heating systems. The study investigates the implementation of district heating in the CO2-80 scenario created with the Irish TIMES model. As the Irish CO2-80 scenario does not include district heating, this study uses EnergyPLAN to simulate an 80% reduction scenario, with and without district heating, to compare the operation of the two systems. A sensitivity analysis is included to reflect on the uncertainties of the study. The results show that a district heating solution is more fuel-efficient while more investment heavy, however the fuel savings more than compensates for the increased investments. In total, the district heating scenario is close to 300 M € cheaper in annual costs than the individual heating scenario for Ireland, and achieves a fuel efficiency increase of 3.5% in the whole energy system due to an efficiency increase in the heating sector. The article shows both the relevance of using multiple models, and the need to consider district heating in a future Irish energy system. Highlights • EnergyPLAN is capable of simulating energy systems identified in MARKAL/TIMES. • EnergyPLAN and Markal/TIMES combined enables better analysis of heating scenarios. • District heating can compete with individual heating in an Irish energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decentralization of energy production and recovery of excess heat (EH) to reach climate targets is essential for renewable and fully decarbonized heating systems. This paper identifies current and potential industrial EH sources providing baseload capacity for district heating (DH) systems. These sources are evaluated by sector and process for supplying baseload capacities explored for current 3rd generation district heating (3GDH) and 4th generation district heating (4GDH) systems with lower grid temperatures and losses, with and without expansions. The method combines geographical analysis and available baseload capacity estimations for 360 Danish DH systems scenario-making and an additional sensitivity analysis evaluating baseload capacity full-load hours. It is found that 80 % of Danish DH systems have an unmet baseload capacity of 50 % or higher. Half of the systems have geothermal capacity available and up to 20 % of industrial EH baseload capacity potential, which sums up to 5 PJ of EH potential within a 2 km distance. The findings also suggest that there is an additional opportunity for the placement of future energy infrastructure able to supply EH, which is highly contextual and strategic in heat planning, particularly considering the future development of sustainable and energy-efficient DH systems. • Maps 360 Danish DH systems with expansion potentials for 3GDH and 4GDH. • Identifies 9235 sources and 19.8 PJ of exploitable industrial excess heat. • Spatially evaluates 3 PJ and 5 PJ of EH for supplying 3GDH and 4GDH baseload capacity. • Locates 5–10 GW of total available baseload capacity in Danish DH systems. • Provides placement opportunities for future excess heat sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

District heating has the potential to play a key role in the transition towards a renewable energy system. However, the development towards reduced heat demands threatens the feasibility of district heating. Despite this challenge, opportunity exists in the form of fourth generation district heating, which operates at lower temperatures and enables better renewable integration. This article investigates this challenge by examining the district heating potential within three scenarios: The first is a reference scenario with current heat demand and temperatures, the second includes heat demand savings and the third includes reduced grid temperatures in addition to heat savings. To examine the scenarios, two models are developed. The first is a heat atlas model, in which heat demands are mapped on an address level. The second model assesses district heating expansion potentials based on economic costs. The models are applied using an example case of The Northern Region of Denmark. The article concludes that the district heating potential is highest in the reference scenario. When heat savings are introduced, district heating expansions, in most cases, will not be feasible. Introducing low-temperature district heating modestly increases the feasible expansion potential. This general conclusion is highly dependent on the specific system examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies show that a high share of district heating is an important part of a future sustainable energy system or smart energy system with a high renewable energy penetration. These studies also show socio-economic benefits of expanding the district heating coverage. However, in order to implement such an expansion, district heating needs to be economically feasible for the heat consumers. This aspect is often not investigated and hence it is unknown if calculations based on consumer-economy, where tax payment is included, will yield the same potential of expansion. This study identifies the differences in the expansion potential of district heating calculated with a socio-economic and a consumer-economic approach, respectively, in a case study of Denmark. By also investigating the consumer-economy of expanding district heating, a deeper insight is obtained of possible locations for expanding district heating under the current framework conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In many countries, DH (district heating) covers a large share of the heat market. In these countries, the best locations for DH systems have already been found. Therefore, the challenge for these countries is to find expansion potentials for existing DH. The expansion to less ideal areas requires more detailed modelling that takes the geographic placement of buildings and the differences among DH systems into account. In the present article, a method for assessing the costs of DH expansions has been developed. The method was applied in a GIS (geographic information system) model that consists of three parts and assesses the costs of heat production, distribution, and transmission. The model was also applied to an actual case in order to show how it can be used. The model shows many improvements in the method for the assessment of distribution costs and transmission costs. Most notable are considering distribution costs based on the geographic properties of each area and assessing transmission costs based on an iterative process that examines expansion potentials gradually. The GIS model is only applicable to a Danish context, but the method itself can be applied to other countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The physical placement of buildings is important when determining the potential for DH (district heating). Good locations for DH are mainly determined by having both a large heat demand within a certain area and having access to local heat resources. In recent years, the locations of buildings in Denmark have been mapped in a heat atlas which includes all buildings and their heat demands. This article focuses on developing a method for assessing the costs associated with supplying these buildings with DH. The analysis is based on the existing DH areas in Denmark. By finding the heat production cost within these areas and adding transmission and distribution costs, it is possible to find the economic feasibility of supplying areas with DH. The findings of the analysis indicate that there is potential for expanding DH in Denmark, but this potential differs from area to area. It is economically feasible to expand DH in many areas, but others would require reductions in production costs and distribution losses in order for DH expansions to be economically feasible. The analysis also shows the potential boundaries for DH expansion by including transmission and distribution costs. These boundaries are not static, but change according to many different factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Denmark’s long-term energy goal is to develop an energy system solely based on renewable energy sources by 2050. To reach this goal, energy savings in buildings is essential. Therefore, the focus on energy efficient measures in buildings and net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) has increased. Most buildings in Denmark are connected to electricity grids and around half are connected to district heating (DH) systems. Connecting buildings to larger energy systems enables them to send and receive energy from these systems. This paper’s objective is to examine how excess heat production from NZEBs influences different types of DH systems. In the analysis three different types of DH systems are analyzed, and three technology development scenarios for each are created. The examination is from a technical perspective and looks into how the overall heat production within DH areas is affected by the NZEBs excess heat production from solar thermal collectors. The main findings are that the excess heat from NZEBs can benefit DH systems by decreasing the production from production units utilizing combustible fuels. In DH areas where the heat demand in summer months is already covered by renewable energy, adding seasonal heat storage is essential to utilize the NZEB production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

District heating (DH) is an important technology in future smart energy systems as it allows for an efficient implementation of various renewable energy sources. As DH develops towards lower temperatures and renewable electricity production increases, new types of heat sources become relevant. Thus, the aim of this article is to assess the potential for utilizing four unconventional excess heat (UEH) sources in DH systems, namely: Data centers, wastewater treatment, metros and service sector buildings. The main method used to assess the UEH potentials is an energy system analysis focusing on the availability and economic feasibility of utilizing the UEH sources in national contexts. The analysis consists of 2015 and 2050 scenarios for Germany, Spain and France. The results show a potential for utilizing the UEH potentials in all three countries, both in 2015 and 2050 systems. The potentials are highest in the 2050 scenarios, primarily due to larger DH shares. Furthermore, the potentials are limited by competition with other heat supply sources, conjunction with heat demands and feasible heat pump operation. In conclusion, the four UEH sources could impact the local DH systems, but in a national energy system context they are expected to play a minor role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses economic aspects of heat savings in the context of strategic heat planning. The analysis uses the city of Aalborg, Denmark, as a case where municipalisation through a recent acquisition of a coal-fired cogeneration of heat and power (CHP) plant has made an update of a municipal strategic energy plan necessary. Combining datasets on buildings and insulation techniques with economic methods, we investigate how the local district heating tariff can be adapted to improve the conditions for heat savings and support the transition to lower supply temperatures in line with the requirements of future fourth generation district heating systems. The paper concludes that implementing a fully variable heat tariff scheme improves the financial incentive for heat savings, while also making the system development less vulnerable to fluctuations and shortages in capital markets. The paper supplements existing literature on heat savings with novelty in its approach and in its systematic investigation of the interplay between tariff policies and interest rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries around the world district heating can play an important role in decarbonisation since it provides an efficient way of displacing fossil fuels and integrating renewable energy. Simultaneously, in some countries heating is based on the burning of biomass in individual stoves, which can be considered renewable but results in both inefficient heating and high contamination. In such countries, air pollution or decontamination is a more urgent problem. This paper presents the application of a methodology to analyse how district heating could be used as an important technology for coordinated decontamination and decarbonisation purposes looking towards 2050, based on an energy system analysis using hourly simulations, and using data based on spatial analysis to be able to explicitly include a Chile-specific cost for district heating. The results show that district heating also has the potential to be an important infrastructure to reduce air pollution from biomass combustion for heating, in addition to its better understood role of enabling decarbonisation and energy efficiency. • District heating has the potential to address both air pollution and decarbonisation. • Multiple alternative energy system scenarios for 2050 are proposed and quantified. • Heat Roadmap Chile scenario reduces the particle matter by 40% compared to the reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]