Waste heat from data centres and sewage works may keep many people warm in a future low-carbon Britain.Heat from industries and incineration could also be captured and piped to homes, hospitals, schools, and offices.Warmth may also be sucked out rivers and the sea - and from old coalmines - using heat pumps which work like fridges in reverse.A fifth of heat needed for buildings could come from so-called district heat networks, government advisers said.These are grids of pipes laid under city streets to convey warm water generated at a centralised location by low-carbon technology.
It's part of a heating revolution being forced ahead by the UK's commitment to combat climate change by ending the burning of gas for heat.
But Chris Stark from the government's advisory Climate Change Committee told BBC News: "It's really important to get district heating into the discussion. It's so appealing in population-dense cities.
District heating networks like this are common in Scandinavia, where many are fuelled by scrap from the timber industry or municipal waste from people's homes.Continue Reading
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