December 1
In September 1903 the City of Frederiksberg killed two birds with one stone: the problems of disposing of household refuse in an environmentally sound way were solved by establishing a waste incineration plant and at the same time, the waste heat from the combustion process could be utilized for heating municipal institutions. By doing so, Frederiksberg Municipality gave birth to the first district heating system in Denmark.
District heating is a natural part of the urban infrastructure in any modern low-carbon city, town or settlement. In the old days the citizens suffered from pollution due to lack of fresh water, lack of waste water systems and emissions from individual stoves. Today any modern urban settlement benefit from the urban infrastructure of fresh water and waste water systems plus of course district heating and/or district cooling depending on the climate conditions. All the stacks on the buildings are now fully available for Santa.
December 2
District heating makes it possible to utilize geothermal energy, which is both CO2-neutral and environmentally sustainable.
District heating also makes possible the utilisation of surplus heat from industrial processes, thus heating homes from energy resources which would otherwise be wasted.
December 3
If you want to know everything about CHP - go to CPH (Copenhagen)
By Mr. Lars Gullev, Managing Director, VEKS
December 4
"Two thirds of the fuel we use for producing energy (globally) are wasted - CHP (combined heat and power) and DHC (district heating and district cooling) can double the energy efficiency".
By Mr. Willian Ramsay, Deputy Director, IEA
December 5
One of the main advantages of the district heating system is its excellent flexibility in utilising waste heat and CHP, as well as most kinds of primary energy sources. It is relatively easy to replace one fuel type with another, in case of fuel shortage, or for the purpose of reducing fuel costs and environmental strain.
December 6
The first global District Energy summit took place on 3 November 2009 in Copenhagen. The outcome were, among other things, a set of recommendations made to guide decision-makers gathering at the COP-15 in their search for pragmatic and easy-to-implement solutions that combine economic and ecological benefits. Please read the first recommendation.
1) To pay more attention to heating and cooling markets, as well as to consistently monitor and explicitly address these by international agreements, cooperation mechanisms and national legislation.
Heating and cooling markets offer tremendous near term opportunities to reduce the use of scarce and polluting fossil fuels. The unique opportunities for enhanced thermal energy markets need to be taken into account and addressed by specific policies for thermal energy. Together with the development of renewable energy, waste heat has to be seen as one of the greatest potential sources of sustainable energy to urgently reduce carbon emissions and cover future thermal energy demands.
As of today, international and national statistics do not provide a complete picture of heating and cooling markets. Yet, policy-making must be based on solid facts and figures. The IEA and national governments must ensure continuous and complete monitoring.
December 7
Recommendation 2 from the first global District Energy Summit that took place on 3 November 2009 in Copenhagen.
2) To prioritise action in urban areas and foster the integration of urban functions (waste incineration, industrial production, transport, services, household demands etc.) by promoting systematic heating and cooling infrastructure planning.
Given the growing density of populations, rising energy demand and distinct pollution challenges, measures targeting urban areas can be expected to have the biggest impact in terms of climate protection. District heating and cooling grids allow a systematically build up coverage of commercial, residential and service sector demands by low- and no-carbon technologies. Greater integration of energy conversion and electricity generation facilities with heat supply infrastructure would offer huge opportunities to save primary energy and cut emissions.
Tailor-made infrastructure solutions are required to connect thermal demands to locally available surplus heat and renewable resources. To maximize local economic benefits, it is essential that public authorities get actively engaged in cost/benefit analysis and subsequent planning.
December 8
Recommendation 3 from the first global District Energy Summit that took place on 3 November 2009 in Copenhagen.
3. To acknowledge district heating and cooling as important tool for climate change mitigation and the importance of financing new heating and cooling networks as well as the upgrading of existing networks where appropriate.
District heating and cooling systems are highly profitable from a national economy perspective. However, they are long term commitments while liberalised energy markets prioritise short term commitments with shorter payback periods. Moreover, emission trading mechanisms focus on energy production only and hence do not necessarily provide sufficient incentives to trigger heating infrastructure investments. Especially in markets where district heating and cooling have a low market share, the contribution and coordination with public bodies in securing financing is essential. Emissions trading, energy policies and regulations must properly consider thermal energy as a resource and not simply focus on electricity.
In many transition countries, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, the high market shares of district heating provide an excellent starting point for bringing higher efficiency and more renewables to the heating and cooling markets. Investing in system improvements, market stabilisation and customer satisfaction is paramount.
With the available amounts of waste heat, there is no shortage of heat for space heating, warm water preparation and low temperature industrial purposes. The problem of the heat market is neither a problem of technology, energy availability nor carbon content, but organization and investment.
December 9
Recommendation 4 from the first global District Energy Summit that took place on 3 November 2009 in Copenhagen.
4. To promote the integration of supply side and demand side policies, by focusing on system efficiency in terms of primary energy rather than on final energy use.
The distinction between demand and supply sides does not reflect the reality of the complex energy system anymore. Focus on a single energy source or technology will result in sub-optimal and inefficient use of resources. The concept of a more holistic system (primary resource) efficiency combines energy efficiency with the use of renewables from the perspective of reduced fossil fuel use. It reconciles the three objectives of energy and climate policy: security of supply, climate protection and competitiveness and therefore should be consistently used to measure the impact of policy measures.
December 10
The last recommendation from the first global District Energy Summit that took place on 3 November 2009 in Copenhagen.
5. To reinforce international research programmes to provide a long-term framework for benchmarking and transfer of best knowledge / legislative practice in district heating and cooling.
To ensure that research efforts benefit a larger number of stakeholders and to foster continued system adaptation with a view to enabling more and better integration of surplus and renewable energies, reinforcing national and international research programmes to provide improved financial and material basis for joint research activities on district heating and cooling is indispensable.
The new green energy deal must encourage the transfer of experiences with district heating and cooling, and this should be reflected in international cooperation agreements.
December 11
The Danish DH industry has an approximate turnover of 19 billion DKK (approx. 2.6 billion Euros) and employs roughly 9000 people in Denmark. The largest employment is found in companies supplying the necessary technology or in companies that export DH products and services.
The turnover and the employment of the subcontractors have increased more than is the case for the heating utilities. This is primarily due to the increase in export. The industry expects that the current employment of 7000 people will increase to 10,000 in 2015 for subcontractors and export companies. Hence, around 2,000 people service directly more than 60 % of all Danish households with heating, which for 98 % of the costumers are significantly cheaper than individual solutions such as oil-fired boilers for example.
December 12
The DH companies supply heat for approximately 1.6 million homes corresponding to 61% of all dwellings.
The DH production has increased by 40% since 1990. In the same period the CO2 emission from the DH production has been reduced by 31%.
DH utilizes surplus heat from industry production as well as electricity production and is often produced of renewable energy sources such as biomass and waste.
December 13
"Denmark has succeeded in enjoying 30 years of economic growth without increasing energy consumption. Combined heat and power stations have been important for this development, both with regard to energy efficiency and CO2 emissions: 6 out of 10 Danes´ homes are heated by district heating".
Connie Hedegaard, Eu-commissioner and Minister of the climate conference - COP15
December 14
The market for district heating and cooling is not only growing due to the increased share of Combined Heat and Power(CHP), and the possibility of using multiple fuels, but also because the world’s population is moving to the cities. Today more than 50% of the world’s population live in urban areas – in 2050 it will be 80%!
By Mr. Per T. Christensen, ABB
December 15
Why burn waste deposit and cool away the heat when the incineration alternatively can produce both electricity and district heating?
December 16
Renewable energy heating and cooling (REHC) have been described as the “sleeping giant” of renewable energy potentials from the global perspective. Mature REHC technologies using solar, biomass and geothermal resources are currently available as cost-effective means of reducing both carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel dependency under many circumstances. In Denmark for instance 42% of the heating stems from CO-neutral resources.
December 17
All over the world Denmark and Copenhagen is known for combined production of heat and power. Just look at the label at your luggage when you go by plane to Copenhagen: you go to CPH – the city of CHP.
December 18
A district cooling system can reach an efficiency rate typically 5 or even 10 times higher than traditional local electricity-driven air-conditioning equipments. District cooling is a prerequisite to reach a high energy efficiency substituting individual household chillers by a large-scale centralized production of energy.
December 19
Agriculture´s environmental problems regarding slurry can be solved by utilising the slurry, producing biogas that can be used as fuel for district heating systems.
December 20
District heating can be compared to a motorway: it is very important to have a good railway system. People can enter and exit the system as in cars, and these "cars" can be changed later on.
December 21
New research has determined that Denmark can be carbon dioxide neutral by 2030 if most of the population uses district heating.
The study (carried out by Ramboll Management and Aalborg University) states that by turning exclusively to district heating the country could become carbon dioxide neutral and, ultimately, reach full sustainable development.
December 22
"The environment, the district heating customers and DONG Energy all benefit from the fact that we are able to send the waste water from our power plants to the district heating network".
Anders Eldrup, DONG Energy
December 23
The world’s most efficient power plants producing electricity are able to reach an energy efficiency level between 35-45%. In Denmark Avedøre II Power Plant is actually able to reach an energy efficiency level of 48%. By utilizing the surplus heat from the production of electricity for district heating, the energy efficiency will more than double to a level between 90-98%.
December 24
A time-autonomous and water-born system adapting to the current energy supply trend switching from oil to coal and natural gas during the 80´es to increase secruity of supply; and to biomass, geothermal and solar during the 90-00´es to combat the man-made climate changes, district heating is a proven and ready-to-use technology, which facilitates ambitious RE targets for EU and the rest of the world.
