Almost half of all the UK's CO2 emissions arise from the use of heat. That is, energy used for space and water heating, industrial process heating, industrial drying and similar purposes. Therefore, if we are to deliver large scale reductions in carbon emissions we have to look at heat.
Understanding the viability of a community heating scheme can often be a time consuming and costly exercise. High development costs are a major barrier to the growth of heating networks.
The heat network tool targets the development process, providing the user with a quick means of establishing the scale of heat demand, required plant size, capital cost and potential CO2 emissions savings. The tool is not a design application, it is an assessment method used to determine whether further time and resources can be justified.
We are aim to support a number of organisations focusing on improving heat utilisation and reducing carbon emissions, for example:
- Project developers;
- CHP generators;
- Housing developers;
- Commerical property developers;
- Eco-home developers;
- Local Authority planning departments;
- Local Authority renewable energy / sutainable development teams;
- Local Authority waste treatment teams.
The tool is a ‘first pass’ approach, helping to focus effort towards the most economically viable sites for community heating schemes.
The heat network tool is split into two assessment methods: