The Role of Low Temperature Waste Heat Recovery in Achieving 2050 Goals: A Policy Positioning Paper

Edward Wheatcroft, Henry Wynn, Kristina Lygnerud, Giorgio Bonvicini and Daniela Leonte
Additional contact information
Edward Wheatcroft: Centre for the Analysis of Time Series, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, UK
Henry Wynn: Centre for the Analysis of Time Series, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, UK
Kristina Lygnerud: IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, 41133 Göteborg, Sweden
Giorgio Bonvicini: RINA Consulting S.p.A., Via Antonio Cecchi, 6 16129 Genova, Italy
Daniela Leonte: Tractebel Engineering, Alexandru Constantinescu 6, 011473 Bucharest, Romania

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: Urban waste heat recovery, in which low temperature heat from urban sources is recovered for use in a district heat network, has a great deal of potential in helping to achieve 2050 climate goals. For example, heat from data centres, metro systems, public sector buildings and waste water treatment plants could be used to supply 10% of Europe’s heat demand. Despite this, at present, urban waste heat recovery is not widespread and is an immature technology. Based on interviews with urban waste heat stakeholders, investors interested in green investments, and experience from demonstrator projects, a number of recommendations are made. It is suggested that policy raising awareness of waste heat recovery, encouraging investment and creating a legal framework should be implemented. It is also recommended that pilot projects should be promoted to help demonstrate technical and economic feasibility. A pilot credit facility is suggested aimed at bridging the gap between potential investors and heat recovery projects.

Keywords: district heating and cooling; urban waste heat recovery; data centres; metro systems; low temperature; excess heat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/8/2107/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/8/2107/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:8:p:2107-:d:349545

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().