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Green District Heating: can the energy crisis + new carbon targets drive new investment?

May 9, 2023 by Rebecca Pool

Rebecca Pool, writing for ESCI, describes green district heating projects where the operator is a “middle man” between new energy generators (waste heat, renewables, etc.) and end users. The energy crisis has created an opportunity, as unpredictable gas prices combined with new carbon targets have made the long-term investment more attractive. But district heating is in direct competition from heat pumps and natural gas, so it needs to be price … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: CIMPOR, Climaespaço, district, EMB3Rs, gas, green, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, investment, Portugal, prices, WasteHeat

Geothermal Heat Pumps: can new U.S. “IRA” support make it go mainstream?

April 21, 2023 by Lauren Reeg, Mike Henchen, Chris Potter and Chris Stone

Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. is meant to drive forward the best clean energy solutions. To help make sure geothermal heat pumps play their fullest role, RMI has done a study of its benefits as well as published guides on how developers can take advantage of the various new laws and support mechanisms. Lauren Reeg, Mike Henchen, Chris Potter and Chris Stone at RMI start with a summary of the technology and its applications, before … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Geothermal Tagged With: cooling, costs, emissions, geothermal, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, IRA, support, taxcredits, US

IEA’s global “CO2 Emissions in 2022” report: by sector, fuel, region, heating +more

April 13, 2023 by IEA

The IEA has published “CO2 Emissions in 2022”, giving estimates of CO2 emissions from all energy sources and industrial processes globally. Emissions from energy combustion increased by 423 Mt, while emissions from industrial processes decreased by 102 Mt. Emissions from various sources (sector, fuel, region, heating, etc.) are broken down, with reasons for why the change happened. The report is part of the IEA’s first global stocktake of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Oil, Gas & Coal Tagged With: Asia, aviation, buildings, China, CO2, coal, cooling, electricity, emissions, Europe, EVs, gas, heating, HVAC, IEA, industry, Nuclear, oil, transport, US, winter

Buildings “Energy Performance Certificates”: piloting new tools to ramp up renovations

March 20, 2023 by Patricia Contreras Tejada

In Europe, any building put up for sale or rent must have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). But as climate ambitions rise, so too must the those of the EPC. That's the purpose of the TIMEPAC consortium, funded by the EU’s Horizon programme, is working to extend its effectiveness and range of tools, explains Patricia Contreras Tejada writing for the European Science Communication Institute (ESCI). She quotes experts who point out that a low … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buildings, Energy Tagged With: Austria, BPIE, buildings, consumption, Croatia, Cyprus, decarbonisation, EPC, EU, Europe, heating, Horizon2020, HVAC, Italy, materials, renovations, Slovenia, spain, TIMEPAC

Heating Households and Buildings: Heat Pumps will be up to three times cheaper than Green Hydrogen

March 3, 2023 by Josh Gabbatiss

A new study concludes that heating from 100% green-hydrogen would be up to three times more expensive than one based on 100% electrification of buildings with heat pumps. Josh Gabbatiss at Carbon Brief summarises the findings, who says it’s yet more evidence to push back against the voices of politicians and fossil-fuel companies wanting to see hydrogen in the household and buildings heating mix (for example, the UK is planning a “hydrogen … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: boilers, buildings, EC, electrification, EU, heating, HeatPumps, households, HVAC, hydrogen, residential, UK

How to sell Heat Pumps to the public in Europe

January 19, 2023 by Helena Uhde

In EU households, 62.8% of energy consumption is for space heating, and another 15.1% for water heating, mostly powered by fossil fuels. Heating and cooling is responsible for 52% of final energy demand in Europe. So, with REPowerEU, the EU has once again strengthened support for heat pumps to achieve energy independence and climate goals. Heat pump sales in Europe grew by an unprecedented 34% in 2021, thanks to a total 2.18m heat pump units … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: cooling, costs, decarbonisation, efficiency, electrification, EU, Hallstatt, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, REPowerEU, sales, subsidies

30+ nations now subsidise Heat Pumps because lifetime cost is cheaper than fossil boilers

January 10, 2023 by Josh Gabbatiss

The global growth in heat pumps can deliver almost 40% of all possible emissions cuts from heating by 2030 (with most of the rest coming from efficiency, mainly insulation), says the IEA. This is according to their “Announced Pledges Scenario” (APS) which assumes that governments carry out all of the climate commitments they have made. Keeping buildings warm produces one-tenth of global energy-related CO2 emissions. So the APS’s heat pump growth … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: buildings, China, efficiency, emissions, EU, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, IEA, Italy, LCOE, Poland, subsidies, US

Cutting energy usage with Behaviour Change: Covid and Russia’s war show it can happen fast

October 28, 2022 by IEA

Technology alone won’t meet our net zero targets. For the foreseeable future there will always be carbon-intensive assets and hard-to-abate sectors. Only “behaviour change” by citizens worldwide can bridge the gap that technology cannot. And the reduced energy use that it delivers will also lower the targets that the rapid growth of clean energy supply are now chasing. Here the IEA lays out the challenges in its Behavioural Changes tracking … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies Tagged With: BehaviourChange, commuting, cooling, Covid, heating, HVAC, IEA, Russia, transport, Ukraine

Evaporation and Radiation cooling: no power required (but the aerogel must get cheaper)

September 28, 2022 by David Chandler

It is well known that evaporation and radiation are two ways of keeping something cool. David Chandler at MIT explains how researchers there have created an experimental 3-layered cell that combines evaporation and radiation with an insulator to deliver cooling that needs no power. It can provide around 9°C of cooling from the ambient temperature, enough to permit safe food storage for about 40% longer under very humid conditions, and could … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: aerogel, cooling, evaporation, grids, HVAC, hydrogel, insulation, radiation

Grid Distribution Systems: access to usage data is uncovering the optimal design for future electrification

July 18, 2022 by Meredith Fowlie

The more efficient a distribution grid is, the less likely other potential supply bottlenecks (from lithium for batteries to trained electricians) will slow the transition to greater and greater electrification. State-of-the-art modelling of future grids is already happening, but the robust modelling of the distribution system is conspicuously missing because good data are notoriously hard to find, says Meredith Fowlie at UC Berkeley’s Energy … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: buildings, charging, costs, data, Distribution, electrification, EVs, grids, HVAC, rooftop, SmartCharging, solar

EU Heat Pumps: warnings against “one size fits all” policies

May 31, 2022 by Helen Farrell

The EU is aiming for the installation of 50 million heat pumps by 2030, equating to annual growth of 16%, reaching one third of the total 150 million boiler installations in the bloc. Helen Farrell reviews these ambitious targets and the policies that are driving them, and turns to a report by RAP to identify the weaknesses in the plan and how it can be improved. The main danger is a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Different countries have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buildings, Energy, HVAC Tagged With: buildings, electrification, EU, Germany, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, newbuilds, retrofits, UK

Netherlands and China co-operate on Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage for heating and cooling

May 19, 2022 by Daisy Chi

Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) accesses the stable temperature of groundwater to warm buildings in winter and cool them in summer. The solution uses much less power than conventional heating and cooling systems. As Daisy Chi at ECECP explains, ATES first took off in China in the 1960s but ran into problems with the required circulation of the groundwater. However, the technology has been developed and optimised in the Netherlands: of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: buildings, China, cooling, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, Netherlands

How a street can share a Ground Source Heat Pump

May 11, 2022 by David Barns

Ground and air source heat pumps are expected to play a major role in cutting the use of gas for heating. But one major problem with them is that they need a lot of space. For those living in dense housing it’s just not practical. District heat networks are the usual alternative, but the dense urban areas they serve need to be near a large source of waste heat like power stations or other industrial units. David Barns at the University of Leeds … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: air, buildings, district, heat, HVAC, local, pumps, residential, urban

Smart households in a high Renewables world: flexible, efficient, cheaper

March 10, 2022 by Marco Reiser and Karoline Steinbacher

Smart controls can enable household heating and EVs to interact flexibly with increasingly decentralised electricity generation. As renewables continue to be added to the energy mix, it will increase efficiency, reduce load, and save money. Marco Reiser and Karoline Steinbacher at Guidehouse summarise the challenges and opportunities, before looking at the SINTEG pilot in Germany. The main hurdles are technological (standardisation, interfaces, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buildings, Energy Tagged With: costs, DistrictHeating, efficiency, electricity, EVs, flexibility, Germany, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, renewables, rooftopsolar, SINTEG, smart, standards

District Heating Roundtable: Policy across RED, EED and EPBD “must take account of conditions in all Member States”

February 17, 2022 by Sara Stefanini

Sara Stefanini provides a written summary of our panel discussion held on 10th February: District Heating under the "Fit for 55" package: challenges and opportunities. Under the “Fit for 55” package, the EC proposed several regulatory changes that, combined, are meant to decarbonise district heating in Europe. But are these options workable for all? The participants raise questions over the support for district heating, whether the multiple … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buildings, Climate policy, Debates, Energy, Energy efficiency, EU Policy, Expert Panel, HVAC Tagged With: biomass, buildings, CHP, coal, cogeneration, Digitalisation, district, efficiency, electricity, FitFor55, gas, heating, HVAC, NZE2050, policy, renewables

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      Recent Posts

      Perovskite: abundant, cheap, printable solar cells demonstrated, ready to generate power

      U.S. EPA: new rules proposed for cutting Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plant emissions

      Financing Renewable Hydrogen globally: ramp up to 2030 only needs $150bn/year

      Five charts on the Energy Transition: the 2020s is the decade of maximum disruption. By 2030 the endgame will be clear

      Making Hydrogen direct from seawater using double-membrane electrolysis

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