District heating research affect European energy strategy

An increase to 50 % district heating in the countries of The European Union in combination with 35 % heat savings can not only enable the EU to meet its CO2 targets for 2050, but do this at a cost of 100 billion euro less than energy savings do on their own.

This is the conclusion of the Heat Roadmap Europe 2050 research that made the media headlines this spring at the conference Heating and Cooling in the European Transition, and when the plans for a European Energy Union were announced. According to leading 4DH and Heat Roadmap Europe researcher Brian Vad Mathiesen at Aalborg University, Denmark, the EU is now finally realizing the environmental potential of district heating, which can be seen in the ambitious plans for a European Energy Union.

According to Heat Roadmap Europe, 55 % of all the energy used in the European countries goes to waste on its way to the consumers. Today, approx. 10 % of the heating in the EU comes from district heating, and an increase to 50 % mainly in big cities would minimize waste heat, saving both energy and money.