For a world in energy crisis, it is a sobering thought that 60% of all energy used in power production is lost. It is among the most wasteful industrial processes in existence – yet a simple solution is at hand.
Power plants run at an efficiency of 40%. However, this can be raised to 90% through the implementation of a District Energy system.

A staggering 60% of the fuel used in power plants is wasted, lost as heat to the atmosphere. District Heating lets us reuse this energy effectively.
-
Economics of necessity
expand
Economics of necessity
It’s the story of our time – energy and the economy. Since the industrial revolution, economic development has been fundamentally dependent on fossil fuel. Yet the finite nature of these fuels, combined with the environmental threat they pose, means continued growth depends on reforming our energy system – quickly.
Finding clean, sustainable sources of energy is of course central to reducing dependency on fossil fuel, and huge strides have been made in making renewable power more competitive. However, less well known is the fact that our existing energy infrastructure is needlessly inefficient and that there is enormous potential for gaining energy through recovery and recycling initiatives.
Indeed, the adoption of renewable energy is meaningless unless accompanied by a wide-ranging improvement in energy efficiency. In other words, there’s little point in generating more sustainable energy if we continue to use that energy in an unsustainable way.
-
Broken pipe
expand
Broken pipe
Recall the chilling pictures from 2010 of BP’s ruptured deep-water well pouring millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a fitting metaphor for power production. For every 100 mega-watts (MW) of electricity generated, 200 MW (enough to power 20,000 homes) pours out as waste. As industrial processes go, few are more inefficient. This wastage was accepted when fossil fuel was cheap and plentiful (and global warming relatively unknown). Today the situation couldn’t be more different or the need for change more urgent.
Not much can be done to make power conversion itself more efficient. However, what can and must happen is to recover the energy (lost as heat) in this process and reuse it for other purposes.
-
Recycled energy
expand
Recycled energy
Recycling heat in this way is the basic principle behind District Heating (or District Energy), a system for centrally supplying residential and commercial heating. The concept is to capture waste energy from power production and use it to heat water, which is then distributed via underground pipes to homes and buildings for heating purposes. The system can be used for cooling too by using recovered energy to power air-conditioning systems.
The brilliance of the system is that it requires no “new” energy (fuel) to be used. Heating (and cooling) is provided simply by reusing energy that’s already in circulation – and often wasted.
-
Fuel plurality
expand
Fuel plurality
The engineering behind District Energy is remarkably simple and stable, making it highly flexible in terms of both scalability and compatibility with fuel sources. In fact District Energy networks can tap directly into renewable power sources such as wind turbines or biomass plants. In this way, it’s possible to provide heating and cooling for thousands of people using only renewable and recycled energy.
-
Carbon targets
expand
Carbon targets
Recycling heat, through District Energy networks, opens the way to massively reducing carbon emissions, particularly in urban centres, where heat demand is most intense. These reductions are achieved without limiting economic and industrial output or endangering living standards. On the contrary, District Energy is widely used in some of Europe’s most advanced economies, where productivity and high living standards go hand in hand with real carbon savings: District Energy lets Copenhagen save 665,000 tons of CO2 annually, while Helsinki saves 1.5m tons per year.
Reassuringly District Energy is able to deliver these benefits here and now. It is a proven, practical approach to controlled decarbonisation and meeting international pledges on emissions control.
-
Ecopolis
expand
Ecopolis
By 2030 60% of the world’s population will live in cities; cities that consume 75% of the world’s energy. District Heating has a vital role to play in meeting that demand, while enabling the creation of ever more sustainable urban centres. Europe has an opportunity to lead the world in demonstrating that vibrant, prosperous cities are compatible with environmental preservation. The vision of an Ecopolis – a carbon-neutral thriving cosmopole – is within our grasp if we dare to reach for it.