Construction News
Summary
“Heat networks are becoming increasingly critical if we are to decarbonise our urban areas at scale”
The National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) recent assessment of how infrastructure could support economic growth and tackle climate change made a bold statement.
Recommendations come at a pivotal moment, as the government relaxes the pace at which it intends to pursue net zero. In the face of a climate emergency, and with the combined energy used to heat the UK’s 30 million buildings contributing to almost a quarter of all the nation’s emissions.
The drive to reduce our overreliance on high-carbon fossil fuels across the built environment is leading to the exploration and implementation of a variety of low-carbon heating solutions, such as heat networks.
They certainly aren’t a new phenomenon – indeed, in the UK, the origins of heat networks can be traced back to the 1960s, as a method of reliable heating taking waste heat from coal-fired power stations. But the technology’s rollout since then has been limited in the UK, contributing to less than 3 per cent of the country’s total heat generation.
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