Heat Pumps Versus Biomass Boilers: A Comparative Analysis of Heating Costs for Public Buildings

Barbara Gradziuk and Piotr Gradziuk

Roczniki (Annals), 2020, vol. 2020, issue 3

Abstract: The aim of the study is a comparative analysis of heating costs of heat pumps and biomass-fired boilers. The study was carried out in the communes of Ruda-Huta (Chełm County) and Dębowa Kłoda (Parczewski County). The subject of the study were school complexes in which the heating system was changed from heating oil to ground heat pumps and a boiler house, working on fine coal, replaced by a biomass-fired boiler-house. The Levelised Cost of Heat (LCOH) method was used to assess heating costs in both facilities. In Poland, according to data for 2018, the basic carrier of renewable energy used in heating was biomass (90.5%), where the share of heat pumps was only 0.4%. The study shows that such proportions, at least in the public utility buildings heating sector, are not economically justified. Average heating costs, estimated using the LCOH method, turned out to be over 20% higher in the case of biomass than in the case of heat pumps. The attractiveness of this technology in heating is evidenced by the development of this market in Europe. Similar trends are also taking place in the world market. Due to the fact that electricity is most often used to generate this type of heat, the development of this sector will highly depend on the relation between its prices and prices of other energy carriers.

Keywords: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Environmental Economics and Policy; Public Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:paaero:308220

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.308220

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