14 Dec 2022

Urban Sustainability: Recovering and Utilizing Urban Excess Heat

By combining key results and lessons learned from the EU project Reuseheat, this article outlines the frontier of urban waste heat recovery research and practice in 2022.

The EU project ReUseHeat has generated much of the existing knowledge on urban waste heat recovery implementation.

The recovery of urban waste heat is characterized by high potential, high competitiveness compared to other heating alternatives, high avoidance of GHG emissions, payback within three years and low utilization. These characteristics reveal that barriers to increased utilization exist. However, the barriers' nature is not technical; the absence of a waste heat EU level policy adds risk, as well as the low knowledge on the urban waste heat opportunity. Furthermore, new stakeholder relationships are needed for successful recovery.

Authors: Kristina Lygnerud (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute), Sarka Langer (Department of Energy Sciences, Efficient Energy Systems, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund University)