Advantageous liaisons: unlocking synergies between DHC and Industry decarbonisation

Most heat demand from industries globally still relies extensively on fossil fuel combustion, accounting for about 10 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. The industry is often called a "hard-to-abate sector", which can only be fully decarbonised with electrification and renewable hydrogen, achieving the last mile.

This ignores that about 40% of European industrial process heat concerns supply temperatures below 200°. That means various solutions already exist to accelerate the decarbonisation of industry supply, including district heating and cooling. New business models are emerging, building on renewable and clean heat supply and large-scale heat pumps, supplying competitive renewable and clean heat to industries.

On the other hand, excess heat recovery from industrial processes (paper, cement, etc.) or tertiary activities (e.g. data centres) opens new opportunities to decarbonise DHC networks, supplying sustainable heat to residential or commercial buildings in urban areas. It also unlocks unexpected synergies for businesses, which can increase their sustainability while generating new revenues.

Unlocking synergies between DHC and industry decarbonisation is pushing the frontiers of District heating and cooling but also spurring the need for new instruments, financing and regulation. This session will showcase promising business models and look at what is needed to create a business environment that benefits the industry and heat suppliers to make more projects happen on the ground.

This session is sponsored by Absolicon