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Thermal networks: The missing infrastructure we need to help enable carbon-free heating

By District Energy posted 03-06-2024 12:28

  

Canadian Biomass

Summary

Most of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere have a fundamental problem: we want to reduce our carbon emissions, but we also need to heat our homes.

The good news is there is a way to do both by creating thermal networks. A thermal network is a system of insulated, underground pipes that directly distribute heat to homes and other buildings using heat generated from clean sources — including nuclear reactors.

Rather than using their own furnaces, boilers, fireplaces or electric baseboard heaters to heat buildings, consumers would receive heat directly from a utility.

It’s an opportunity that is set to grow as Canada expands its nuclear energy supply and creates more heat in the process, especially with small modular reactors expected to start coming on-stream in the next decade.

Many buildings in Toronto, Hamilton, Vancouver and on university campuses, such as McMaster University, are served by hot water or steam-based central heating plants, using heat that is purpose-made and piped across campus. What’s more, Canada already leads the world in district cooling networks.

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