Decarbonizing District Heating in EU-27 + UK: How Much Excess Heat Is Available from Industrial Sites?

Pia Manz, Katerina Kermeli, Urban Persson, Marius Neuwirth, Tobias Fleiter and Wina Crijns-Graus
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Pia Manz: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany
Katerina Kermeli: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
Urban Persson: School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability, Halmstad University, 301 18 Halmstad, Sweden
Marius Neuwirth: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany
Tobias Fleiter: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany
Wina Crijns-Graus: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-34

Abstract: Energy-intensive industries across the EU-28 release unused heat into the environment. This excess heat can be utilized for district heating systems. However, this is the exception today, and the potential contribution to the decarbonization of district heating is not well quantified. An estimation of excess heat, based on industrial processes, and spatial matching to district heating areas is necessary. We present a georeferenced industrial database with annual production and excess heat potentials at different temperature levels matched with current and possible district heating areas. Our results show a total potential of 960 PJ/a (267 TWh/a) of excess heat when the exhaust gases are cooled down to 25 °C, with 47% of the 1.608 studied industrial sites inside or within a 10 km distance of district heating areas. The calculated potentials reveal that currently 230 PJ/a (64 TWh/a) of excess heat is available for district heating areas, about 17% of today’s demand of buildings for district heating. In the future, widespread and low-temperature district heating areas increase the available excess heat to 258 PJ/a (72 TWh/a) at 55 °C or 679 PJ/a (189 TWh/a) at 25 °C. We show that industrial excess heat can substantially contribute to decarbonize district heating, however, the major share of heat will need to be supplied by renewables.

Keywords: Industrial excess heat; district heating; heat decarbonization; geographic information system; spatial analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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