UK project to recover waste heat for low carbon heating

The £1.3m project aims to overcome technical challenges that currently limit the capabilities of conventional thermochemical energy storage systems.

A pilot model of the new thermochemical energy storage system will be connected to a small-scale district heating network already in operation at the Creative Energy Homes complex at Nottingham University. This test-bed demonstrator, which represents about five or six buildings on University Park campus, will then be evaluated for effectiveness and performance.

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In a statement, project leader Professor Jo Darkwa said, “From 2030 individual homes and commissioned buildings won’t be able to use individual gas boilers, so we need low carbon and zero carbon heating systems that can replace fossil-fuelled systems. A key alternative is district heating systems which distribute hot water into multiple properties via networks of communal pipes.

“District heating systems are advantageous, because they can use excess heat - a free raw material - from industrial processes or sustainable sources such as geothermal to heat water for large numbers of homes.”  

The variable nature and temperatures of the low-zero carbon sources, both short-term (daily) and long-term (seasonal), and mismatches between needs and availability of energy, make decarbonisation more difficult to achieve at an individual building level.