Waste to Energy Plant in Antwerp, Antwerp
The So What project and their partners
explored the potential for using waste heat and expand the grid by selling and distribution the heat
from a local waste incineration.
Local community
Reuse of heat generated by Berlin’s metronetwork
Metro trains generate excess heat when operating. The electric motors create heat due to their electrical and mechanical functioning at acceleration, at constant speed and at deceleration. About half of the heat in an underground system is produced when trains slow down: waste heat is produced by the brakes when a train approaches a station. The ventilation system of the trains also generates excess heat. For citys it is interesting to use this excess heat for their district heating network. In Berline the ReUseHeat project worked on an interesting example.
Reuse of waste heat from a sewage system in Nice
Waste water management systems exist in every city and could be exploited to heat buildings. They promise major heat recovery potential. The temperature of waste water ranges from 10 to 15°C on average, and can go even up to 20°C during summertime. This guarantees an adequate heat source for the operation of heat pumps throughout the whole year. The ReUseHeat project worked on an example of this application in the “Gran Arenas” project (Nice).
Heat recovery from data centers in Brunswick
In 2010, data centres world-wide used about 350 TWh of electricity. It is just over 1% of the world’s total electricity use and it is constantly growing. Most of the power consumed by the Information Technology (IT) equipment is converted into waste heat, which must be removed to avoid damage to the equipment. The energy requirement of the cooling system represents up to 40% of the overall data centre energy consumption. The ReUseHeat project worked in Brunswick on the use of datacentre’s excess heat in the district heating network.
Renewable heating and cooling for a hospital
Southern European hospitals have high cooling and heating needs during the whole year. Combined district heating and cooling networks are, therefore, an interesting application. There are approximately 7,154 hospitals in Europe. Every hospital has considerable cooling needs and the excess heat from the cooling system can be captured and used in heat networks. Considering a conservative potential waste heat recovery tertiary buildings, up to 10 TWh year of heat could be supplied from this low-carbon source. The ReUseHeat project worked on an interesting application in hospitals in Madrid.