The common denominator of artificial intelligence is the need of available, good qualilty and real data to advance in the different procedures needed to create and train the models. Practical research in AI often lacks available and reliable datasets so the practitioners can try different AI algortihms to solve different problems.
In some industrial research fields like predictive maintenance is particularly challenging in this aspect as many researchers do not have access to full-size industrial equipment or there are not available datasets representing a rich information content in different evolutions of faults that can happen to an asset or machine. In addition to that, the available datasets are clearly unbalances as the norm for machines is that they operate properly and only few examples of faults appear during their lifetime.
It´s very important from the AI research point of view the availability of reliable and interesting data sources that can provide a variety of examples to test different signal processing algorithms and introduce students and researchers into practical application such as signal processing, classification or prediction.
The ideal situation for researchers and developers of artificial intelligence solutions is that everyone, to a certain extent, shares data. But sharing data cannot be seen only as a way to help other people, sharing research data can bring many advantages to the data donor:
It´s part of good data practice and open science as it is encouraged to make data accesible together with the scientific papers generated.
Cut down on academic fraud and prevent publications of studies based on fake data.
Validate results. Anyone can make a mistake, if we share the data we used, other researchers could replicate our work and detect any potential error in our work.
More sicentific breakthroughs. This is especially true in social and health science where data sharing would enable for example more studies in human brain as Alzheimer´s Disease and many others.
A citation advantage. Studies that make data available in a public repository are more likely to receive more citations than similar studies for which the data is not made available.
Best teaching tools based on real cases.
At Europe level the European Commission has launched the Open Research Europe, a scientific publishing service, for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries with a service to publish their results in full compliance with commission open access policies. The service provides an easy, high quality peer-reviewed venue to publish their results in open access, at no cost to them. Other interesting service part of this open research initiative is Zenodo, an open repository to upload your research results. In addition to the open research publishing guidelines, data guidelines are also available which adheres the F.A.I.R principles too and refers a number of trusted repositories like Zenodo, that we are obliged to use based on the European project rules.
The FAIR guiding principles for publishing data mean that the data and its meta-data that defines it must be:
Findable: (meta)data are assigned a globally unique and persistent identifier.
Accessible: (meta)data are retrievable by their identifier using a standardized communications protocol.
Interoperable: (meta)data use a formal, accessible, shared, and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation.
Reusable: meta(data) are richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attributes.
Besides, from the governmental point of view European Commission, both European Data Strategy and Data Governance policy are powerful initiatives focus on the implementation of European data spaces, among which the Commission proposes the creation of a specific European industrial (manufacturing) data space to take advantages of the strong European industrial base and improve their competitiveness.
As researchers in CARTIF, we are committed to promote such openness with our research projects. For example, for CAPRI project it has been recently created its own Zenodo channel repository, where we periodically upload project results of the advanced solutions we are developing for the process industry such as cognitive sensors or cognitive control algorithms. You can go to the repository and inspect more than 40 datsasets, sourcecode or videos we already have uploaded.
Many people will have an accurate idea of what biomass is and what it represents in our society. In an energy context in which energy prices are continually breaking historical records, there are already many consumers who, in view of the imminent winter, have found in biomass the solution to try to reduce their heating bills.
For several decades now we have been listening that biomass is a renewable energy resource capable of replacing fossil energy with guarantees, but with the feeling that it has not yet been able to kick down the door and take off definitively, which would change the paradigm of bioenergy in Spain once and for all.
To use an expression from cycling slang, biomass in Spain has always beien “doing the rubber”behind the leading countries (Finland, United Kingdom and Germany, among others). It is true that it has experienced sustainable growth in recent years in all the links of its value chain, but perhaps not at the pace that could be expected, taking into account the expectations created in the past.
Source: Avebiom.org
Numbers do not deceive. Although between 2014 and 2019 (pre-pandemic) the total installed biomass capacity in Spain grew by 9 %[REE], the available forestry potential is still not adequately managed. Currently, some 4.3Mt/year of forest biomass is consumed for energy uses, which represents approximately 41 % of the total available, far from the countries of northern Europe, with a long tradition of forestry, which reach levels of over 70 % [APPA].
In any case, we may think that the national bioenergy sector is already sufficiently mature. An unmistakable sign of this is the fact that, at present, practically all the national production of biofuels is consumed in Spain, due to the increase in demand for combustion equipment, and therefore fuel [AVEBIOM]. However, society in general may still find it difficult to perceive the real dimension of what biomass has to offers, and some recurring questions arise around it, such as,for example…
Biomass promotes access to a reliable and cleaner source of energy?
The use of biomass reduces CO2 emissions into the environment?
Biomass helps to combat the drama of forest fires, which destroy hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in Spain every summer?
Biomass helps to fix economic activity in the rural environment and to fight against another drama of some autonomous communities, such as depopulation?
Is Biomass cheaper than the fossil alternative? If i buy a pellet cooker, will I save on the thermal energy consumption?
Technological developments in the field of bioenergy and the current situation in the sector invite us to answer all these questions in the affirmative. Because bioenergy is environmentally neutral, and its use doesn´t contribute to global warming through CO2 emissions. Because proper forest management helps to mitigate the risk of forest fires. And because giving value to the Spanish forestry sector means boosting economic activity in rural areas, tackling the major problem of depopulation.
“Biomass in Europe is positioned as a strategic energy source to reduce our dependence on Russian gas and other forms of fossil energy”
Von der leyen. (european commission president)
But this will not be easy to achieve in the short term. At present, Spain would need to adequately manage almost 10Mt/year of dry wood in order not to depend on Russian gas, that is to say, it would have to triple its current consumption.
The present of biomass has been inevitably linked to various social, geopolitical and health events, which have had a devastating impact worldwide. In early 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which in 2021 “led to an unprecedented situation of rising commodity prices and an energy crisis due to the rising cost of energy caused by the increase in the price of fossil fuels. Furthermore, in february 2022, without having digested all of the above, Russia´s invasion of Ukraine led to a cruel war which, apart from the humanitarian drama it entailed, generated an unprecedented escalation in gas prices, introducing even more uncertainity in the supply of raw materials and energy at a global level.
As if this weren´t enough, the summer of 2022 saw an all-time record number of forest fires in Spain, devastating more than 250,000 hectares of forest and woodland ,the worst in the last 15 years [EFFIS]
However, in the words of Javier Díaz (AVEBIOM), in 2022 the biomass sector in Spain may also be remembered for facing all these difficulties and placing itself in an advantageous position to definitively overtake gas and electricity of fossil origin. The escalation of gas prices has significantly changed the current bioenergy market landscape, forcing the sector to adapt in order to cope with the high demand, both in the domestic and industrial spheres. With the fear of a possible Russian gas supply cut in the middel of winter leading to even higher prices, consumers want to switch to biomass and use it in their boilers and cookers. It is estimated that demand for wood or pellet cookers and fireplaces will increase by 20-30 %, which will be higher in the colder months. [AEFECC]
In recent years,the price stability of bioenergy has been a hallmark of its identity compared to fossil fuels, although this may currently generate some controversy, given that the price of a 15kg bag pellets has doubled in just one year, due to the generalised inflationary situation of raw materials. Some cyclical effects related to the sector do not help either, such as the real impact on the market following the application of a reduced VAT rate (5 %), in the last four months of 2022, on some solid biofuels (pellets, briquettes and firewood). Far from achieving the expected effect, unjustifies price increases have been detected by some distributors of these products, making it a wasteful measure for many consumers [OCU].
Source: AVEBIOM.
Since its creation almost 30 years ago, CARTIF has made a strong commitment to biomass as an agent of innovation, developing R&D proejcts aimed at promoting its use and improving its efficiency. Furthermore, for the last ten years we have also been biomass consumers, as one one of our three buildings currently covers its thermal demand for hot water and heating with a wood pellet boiler.
In addition, CARTIF also actively participates in the ENplus® quality scheme (certification system that regulates and control s the wood pellets sector in Europe). In 2015 we became an ENAC accredited Test Body (nº335/LE1276) for the analysis and testing of solid biofuels, being the first Spanish laboratory to achieve this.
As in so many other industrial sectors, uncertainity looms over the future of biomass in Spain, but with the certainty of being faced with a unique opportunity to overcome the barriers it has historically come up against. If companies are able to continue to hold on and take advantage of the recovery funds, biomass should now lead the change in the national energy scenario. At CARTIF we understand that this future must inevitably involve technological innovation, through energy transformation processes that are increasingly more efficient, cheaper and more environmentally sustainable.
From November 6 to 20, the 27th Conference of the Parties took place in Sharm el Sheikh, where state leaders met in search of agreements against climate change and the definition of an action plan to deal with the challenges current. In this blog we reveal the conclusions about this conference and why this topic should interest you.
Climate change…I´ve heard about it, but why should I care?
When we talk about climate change, a large part of the population relates it solely to the increase in temperature. And yes, they are right, the severity of climate change is evaluated through the increase in temperature, but it is the consequences derived from this increase in temperature that should concern us, as well as its causes, in order to combat it. Listed below some relationships that seem somewhat contradictory:
Cyclical changes in the climate have always existed, this is one more: yes and no. For 100 thousand years there have been very considerable climatic changes and in a cyclical way. However, with the arrival of the Holocene, 10,000 years ago, the temperature on Earth stabilized, only varying its average temperature within a range of one degree Celsius. This facilitated the development of a stable and predictable planet. It is, in fact, the only period in which we can ensure that the development of human life can take place. However, human activities and the consequent increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have made us leave the Holocene, entering the Anthropocene, an unprecedented situation, as can be seen in the graph below.
https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
This time is characterized by an exponential increase in temperatures, as you can see in the graph below, extracted from documentation of the Intergovernmental Panel against Climate Change (IPCC).
Valérie Masson-Delmotte et al., “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis,”
The temperature rises, but it is colder in winter: the entry into the Anthropocene and the rise in temperatures have meant that we are at risk of completely destabilizing the Earth’s atmospheric processes and breaking their balance. It is precisely this imbalance that causes more extremes in temperatures, both in winter and summer. The graph shows the frequency of extreme events that would exist depending on potential future temperature increases.
It rains more, but there are more droughts: an increase in the Earth’s temperature also affects the temperature of the oceans. Since warm water occupies more, this carries a risk for all coastal areas that could be affected by the rise in sea level, and also has an impact on the progressive melting of the poles (whose decrease in surface area also reduces the capacity of the Earth to reflect solar radiation). However, what is not so immediate is the alteration of the water cycle: as there is more water vapor in the environment, more intense storms are produced. This can lead to heavy and frequent flooding, as well as the occurrence of hurricanes. In fact, events like Hurricane Sandy in 2012 are estimated to occur annually starting in 21001. But what about droughts? When there is an increase in temperature, a greater amount of water evaporates from the soil (again contributing to the destabilization of the water cycle). When it returns in the form of intense rains to the ground, the ground is not capable of absorbing this amount of water at this speed, which contributes to floods derived from these intense precipitations. In addition, due to other types of processes, the absorption capacity and quality of the soil is currently reduced This has several consequences, such as the lack of food security. To learn more about this topic, I recommend this documentary: “Kiss the Ground”.
Therefore, the problem of climate change is not only the increase in temperature, but also all the consequences derived from it and the imbalance that it implies in the ecosystemic services the Earth provides. For all these reasons, the temperature limit is set at 1.5ºC, which is what allows it to operate in a safe environment. However, it seems easy to overstep it.
And what has been decided at COP27? Are the agreements that have been made enough?
Currently, we are not doing enough reduce GHG emissions and stay within the limit of 1.5ºC of temperature increase. Although there are different opinions about the results of COP27, a fairly general feeling is that, although the 1.5ºC target set in the Paris Agreement and renewed at COP26 in Glasgow has been maintained, much more needs to be done. In particular, the countries that emit the most have not committed to eliminate fossil fuels, nor to establish new agreements to contribute to the mitigation of climate change2.
However, a positive point of COP27 is its support for the most vulnerable countries, focusing the discourse on climate justice. Indeed, the harshest consequences of climate change end up being suffered by those countries that contribute the least to it and are more vulnerable. In fact, according to the 2018 Lancet Countdown Report, it is estimated that there could be one billion climate migrants.
Every tenth of a degree counts. The consequences of not acting and even temporarily exceeding this limit of 1.5ºC can lead to severe risks, some of which may be irreversible, according to the latest IPCC report. Globally and in a coordinated way, we have to adapt to these new circumstances, but also mitigate the future consequences of climate change. However, these mitigation and adaptation actions can only be applied at the local level. To give you some ideas of what can be done, I recommend a project we are working on at CARTIF, as well as provide additional references.
How does CARTIF contribute to the fight against climate change?
At CARTIF, especially from the Energy and Climate Policies area, we work on the development of models (at different scales), tools and solutions to analyze climate change and propose adaptation and mitigation solutions. In particular, in the RethinkAction project (GA 101037104) coordinated by CARTIF, we will develop an integrated evaluation platform to simulate and evaluate adaptation and mitigation solutions based on land uses. This analysis will be carried out both at a local, European and global level, as well as over time, which will allow both the general public and those in charge of making decisions to better understand the impact of its application. To do this, we will develop system dynamics models that we will apply both in the 6 case studies (representative examples of the impacts of climate change), and at a European and global level, and we will rely on georeferenced satellite information.
If you want more information…
I propose the consultation of three sources.
1. First of all, the most relevant documentation is that generated by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), where reports are periodically generated to assess the climate change situation, focusing on various areas. In particular in the latest report they focus on the impacts of climate change, adaptation and vulnerability.
2. Secondly, I suggest the simulator of the EN-ROADS tool, developed by CLIMATE INTERACTIVE and MIT to analyse future scenarios and the consequences on temperature depending on the policies applied in various fields such as energy, transport, etc. .
3. Finally, it is worth highlighting the work of the Stockholm Resilience Center and the research orchestrated by Johan Rockström. These experts have analysed certain limits (planetary limits) in a series of areas that should be respected (see image below). They are points of no return where, once passed, we could not go back and they would cause the functioning of the earth to get out of control. As can be seen, many of them are related to climate change, but also to the pollution we generate, the use of water, etc.
In addition to being able to consult the scientific articles where this theory is exposed (here I leave an article), I recommend viewing the documentary that they have made about it, called “Breaking boundaries: The Science of Our Planet”. According to the documentary, the main message is hopeful: we still have time. It also highlights four main lines of action:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero
Protect all those terrestrial elements that contribute to absorbing our impacts (wetlands, soils, forests and oceans)
Change our diets and the way we produce food
Move towards a circular economy.
While many decisions should be made at a higher policy level, how can you use your voice, your vote, and your choices to contribute to this fight?
Your world depends on it.
1 Georgina Gustin, “U.S. Coastal Cities Will Flood More Often and More Severely, Study Warns,” Inside Climate News, June 7, 2017. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07062017/coastal-flooding-extreme-sea-level-rise-forecast
A few weeks ago, SmartEn1 association published an estimate of the benefits that could be achieved through flexible demand management. Recall that flexible demand management is the set of actions that stimulate consumers to change their usual pattern of electricity consumption in response to some kind of request.
It is considered that demand flexibility management will be one of the pillars to achieve the complete decarbonisation of the energy system. As the weight of classic generation systems, based on fossil fuels, decreases, it will become more difficult to match production with demand, since renewable energies are not controllable. This problem can be solved by storing energy in some way, such as hydrogen generation, heating water and using batteries. But, in addition to storage, attempts can be made to shift demand to coincide with times when renewable generation is most abundant. If demand is flexible, this could be done without prejudice to the consumer.
Let´s go back to the SmartEn report. They have used electricity market models and estimates of consumption and generation for 2030 published by the European Union and have come to some interesting conclusions. The first is that in 2030 there will be 164 GW of flexible power available in Europe to ramp up (consume less in the case of demand, generate more in the case of generation) and 130 GW of flexible power to ramp down. In terms of energy this is 397 TWh and 340.5 TWh respectively. To put these figures in perspective, all the nuclear power plants in Spain typically produce around 60 TWh per year, or that Europe’s electricity demand in 2021 was 3,399 TWh per year, or that Europe’s electricity demand in 2021 was 3,399 TWh2 per year.
Exploiting demand flexibility will reduce the price of electricity because it can be managed to increase the use of renewable energy. The report estimates that these savings could amount to 4.6 billion euros. The increase in the use of renewables would occur because up to 15.5 TWh of renewable energy would not be wasted and would not have to be “thrown away” because the system, thanks to flexible demand management, will be able to consume them when they are available.
If we take into account that the trigger for the whole transformation we are undergoing is the fight against climate change, the report estimates that flexible demand management could lead to 37.5 million tonnes less greenhouse gas emissions than if demand flexibility were not used. This would represent 8% of total emissions and would allow the power generation sector to exceed Target 553, i.e. to have reduced GHG emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 emissions.
The energy transition could threaten security of supply, i.e. the everyday gesture of flicking a switch and the light coming on could no longer be so commonplace. The report picks up on this threat and says that by 2030 Europe will have a generation capacity shortfall of 60 GW. Solving this problem by building generating plants could cost around 2.7 billion euros, an investment that could be avoided if 60 GW of flexible demand were made available. Related to security of supply are balancing markets, where energy is sold to avoid problems in the stability of network. If these markets were given access to flexible demand management, SmartEn estimates that the price of energy in these markets could be reduced by 43% to 66%, which would ultimately benefit consumers. The distribution grid may also face problems in ensuring its proper functioning when the presence of distributed renewable generation gains the expected weight. To solve these problems, it would be necessary to invest between 11.1 and 29.1 billion euros less than expected if flexible demand were to be managed correctly.
The end consumer would also benefit from flexible demand management, not only if they have loads that are flexible, such as electrified air conditioning or electric vehicle charging, to name two, but they will also have to pay less in terms of grid usage tolls. SamrtEn`s report estimates that these terms would result in direct cost reductions for consumers of up to 64% per year, some 71 billion euros in total. It would also benefit from indirect cost resuctions due to lower energy prices, reduced investment in the distribution network to keep it up to date and reduced costs associated with greenhouse gas emissions. The report estimates that this indirect reduction would be around €300 billion.
From the SmartEn report it seems that there would be nothing but benefits if flexible demand is managed correctly. So is flexibility already being exploited for the benefit of the energy system, consumers and the environment? The answer depends on the country, but in general, progress is slow. In the case of Spain, steps have been taken to define the role of the independent aggregator in the management of flexibility, but the necessary regulation has not been developed and, therefore, there are still no business models that can attract any type of consumer. The association Entra Aggregation and Flexibility has just presented a roadmap for demand flexibility according to which independent aggregators and market adaptation will be ready by the end of 2023. A plan that seems very ambitious considering the delays that have been dragging on, but which, if fulfilled, would represent a great step forward in achieving the decarbonisation objectives sought by both the Spanish government and the European Union.
Also in Spain we find an opportunity for flexible demand participation through balancing markets, where very large consumers can obtain economic benefits thanks to their flexibility. In addition to this, the first auction has recently been held. Consumers with flexibility have committed to reduce their demand by the amount they have bid when rewuired to do so by the system operator, for which they will receive a remuneration of 69.97€/MW. The bad news is that only 497MW have been allocated.
Demand-side flexibility management is set to be an important element in the new energy system. It can be achieved through voluntary and remunerated mechanisms as long as consumers adapt quickly enough and regulation is favourable. If this is not achieved, we will learn to be flexible by imposing restrictions on consumption.
Cultural heritage, in the broad sense, is the legacy received from our ancestors, which becomes the testimony of their worldview, their ways of life and their way of being, having to be passed down to future generations. Knowing the cultural heritage is to know the identity of a specific society and let me dare say that, without doubt, it even helps us to discover ourselves.
When we are traveling to a certain place to “pick up” that knowledge, but being far away from stereotypes and trivializations, we are doing cultural tourism. Despite the fact that this type of tourism is sometimes controversial (fundamentally due to how resources are managed), it is unquestionable that it has nothing to do with sun and beach tourism. Even though Spain is the second country in the world for highest quantity (and quality) of cultural (and even natural) heritage, it surprisingly continues to present and sell ‘sun and beach’ tourism as almost exclusive. Cultural tourism represents a great opportunity for local development, decisively contributing to conserving and making heritage sustainable, since it has already been proven that generates resources and employment for the community. But for this to happen, it must be oriented not only for the benefit of cultural heritage in itself, but also for the people who inhabit the place where it is located. Only if the inhabitants are really an active component in tourism development, can the spark arise between heritage and cultural tourism, and then it will end up being a well-matched marriage beyond convenience.
The fact is that since the 1970s, when UNESCO launched the Convention on World Cultural and Natural Heritage, together with proposals to conserve and promote it, cultural tourism has experienced huge growth throughout the world, but especially in Europe, where it became really important since the 1980s. In fact, currently there are 1121 declared World Heritage Sites; the majority of them spread around three countries, two of which are European: China (55), Italy (55), and Spain (48).
Europe is a key cultural tourism destination thanks to an incomparable cultural heritage that includes museums, theatres, archaeological sites, historical cities, industrial sites as well as music and gastronomy. According to CARTIF’s analysis in 2021 for theTExTOUR project, it is estimated that cultural tourism accounts for 40%of all European tourism. This is generating 5 million direct jobs and contributing 143 billion Euros per year to the EU economy. Indeed the EU promotes a balanced approach between the needs to boost growth on one side, and the preservation of artefacts, historical sites, and local traditions on the other.
Pandemics apart, it is estimated that cultural tourism will remain one of the key markets in Europe. Interestingly, cultural tourists spend 38% more per day and stay 22% longer than other tourists. Germany is the largest European source market in terms of market size, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain. Trends show cultural tourism is slowly changing into creative tourism. With it, tourists actively participate in cultural learning experiences, getting in touch with local people and culture.
Cultural tourism originally was primarily driven by the interest of the baby boom generation (born late 1950s – mid 1970s) to visit major cultural sites and attractions, such as museums and monuments, often travelling in groups. The generations after them: generation Y (millennials: born 1980–1995) and generation Z (centennials: born 1995 – 2010), drive the demand for more authentic, unique, small-scale and personal experiences, plus the demand for popular and everyday culture. For them it is more important ‘to be’ somewhere, rather than ‘to go’ somewhere. These generations prefer to travel on their own, thus flat rental platforms and personally-driven services at local level are growing and growing.
Of course technology has made a substantial change in the habits of travellers. The recent publication of five new standards by the Spanish Standardization Committee (UNE) contributes to providing solutions to the challenges that destinations as well as the companies and agents that operate in them must address through a digital and sustainable model that definitely fits like a glove to the cultural tourism. This model strongly needs to be equal in technological and social development to the digitization of cultural heritage, which is the great pending issue, but CARTIF is ready to help. Do you need us?
The COVID-19 hangover has left us with a supply crisis with long queues (not only at the supermarket) that has increased the prices of equipment and all kinds of components. In addition, the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to an energy crisis with gas prices rising steadily.
Faced with this uncertainty and the growing fear of being cold in winter, some neighbourhood communities have started to connect to district heating networks (or heat networks). In Aranda, for example, 1950 homes will be connected to a biomass thermal network. The same is happening in Valladolid, where new heat networks are being installed in the neighbourhoods of Huerta del Rey, Parquesol and Villa del Prado. In other neighbourhoods, according to RTVE, residents’ associations are deciding to turn off central heating in response to rising prices, which could lead to an increase in the number of people living in energy poverty. In this context, the latter would mean people staying cold in their homes for fear of a high energy bill.
But, what are heat networks?
Heat networks or district heating networks are heat (or cold) production facilities that supply energy to each dwelling through underground pipes. Among the major advantages, compared to individual systems (the usual household boilers), are that heat networks allow the integration of renewable energy sources to increase independence from external fossil fuels, reduce emissions and lower costs for end-users. Other benefits include the removal of individual equipment from indoor spaces, which means more usable space available inside homes, and being able to offer a supply service independent of fossil fuels (and their price rises). Their main disadvantage is that they often require extensive work to prepare for the installation of pipework, traditionally involving the construction of large production plants with tall and aesthetically unattractive chimneys, and are simply not known to the general public, nor the benefits they can provide (especially in the case of Spain).
Then, affect the urban landscape of cities?
The answer is not necessarily. The New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative aims to improve the quality of life of citizens through the joint promotion of the principles of Beauty, Sustainability and Inclusion in our environment, which is equivalent to good, beautiful and for all.
These principles focus on reconnecting with nature, regaining a sense of belonging and fostering participation, sustainability and circularity. In the case of heat networks, this holistic approach can be achieved in different ways.
As regards the sustainability pillar, the use of renewable energy sources (geothermal, solar thermal, biomass, biogas, recovery of surplus heat from industry) can be increased in thermal networks, as is being done at a general level in the sector to reduce CO2 emissions and other pollutants, but also, for example, through the revaluation of ashes or forestry waste.
As regards the social dimension and inclusion, by integrating more sustainable alternatives and supplying heat or cooling to a large number of households, affordable, secure and flexible heat or cooling supply can be promoted, thus reducing cases of energy poverty. In addition, digitalisation and the combination of networks with energy communities promote citizen participation and inclusion in the energy transition, where they can discuss, give feedback, engage in demand-side management strategies and even encourage users to become prosumers of heat.
But how can heat networks be made beautiful? At CARTIF, we have found that, through the generation of green spaces (such as parks) or multi-purpose spaces, it is possible to make the power plants beautiful spaces integrated into the urban, cultural or educational landscape. In addition, it is possible to reduce the visual impact of heat networks by burying the installations, and thus also the possible social rejection associated with the aesthetic component of these supply networks.
A case study in Heerlen, the Netherlands.
A very illustrative example of the successful application of the New European Bauhaus principles to heat networks is the network in Heerlen (Netherlands), which supplies 350 households with heat and cold thanks to geothermal energy. This network has boreholes at different temperature levels that allow it to provide heat of around 40°C in winter and 16°C of cooling in summer. The installation uses old coal mines as underground thermal storage and also uses surplus heat from a nearby steel industry, which would otherwise be lost to the environment. This could only be promoted in Spain if the houses were first insulated in order to lower the temperature required for heating and thus lower the temperature of the district heating networks. In Heerlen, at each substation each user would have an auxiliary heating system (which could be heat pumps) to meet their thermal demand. Thus, its generation is sustainable and guarantees affordable prices for citizens.
Moreover, the network’s generation plant has a modern and innovative aesthetic that blends in with the urban environment and is part of a multifunctional building that includes a supermarket, a café, a conference room and a library. In this way, far from having a negative visual impact or provoking rejection, it has become an iconic meeting point in the city.
Figure 2. Outside design of the heat network plant in Heerlen (Netherlands). Source: Smart Cities Marketplace
All this work on heat networks towards a more sustainable, inclusive and beautiful future is possible thanks to the fact that CARTIF is participating in several projects studying heat networks from different perspectives. Among them, REUSEHEAT and REWARDHEAT, where new generation heat networks are demonstrated with the integration of heat recovery from different sources, a project together with the JRC to study the NEB perspective on heat networks in Europe, or the NetZeroCities cities mission platform, where CARTIF will support cities to promote this kind of initiatives.
If you want to know more or need help with the NEB initiative or heat networks, count on us!
CARTIF is a Cervera Excellence Centre, granted by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the CDTI, under the file number CER201910.
Co-author
Andrea Gabaldón:Energy researcher. Experince in energy modelling of district and building systems, district thermal networks, positive energy districts and energy communities. She works in european projects such as LocalRES, ATELIER and NETZEROCITIES
