Eusew’s digital ambassador, Thomas Nowak explores how waste heat recovery and recycling can create a recycled energy economy in urban areas through thermal networks, heat pumps, and renewable energy.
Efficient heating and cooling are essential, but a lot of thermal energy is wasted. What if we could avoid this heat contamination and establish a recycling energy economy in urban areas by collecting and recycling waste heat?
Thermal networks as heat collectors and transport, energy lifts, storage, and heat pumps as clean renewable energy sources can turn this dream into reality today.
There is no clear heating and cooling in the city
As the climate crisis worsens and urban populations grow, cities are increasingly putting more pressure on improving infrastructure and services.
Cities need to be more resilient to extreme weather events and heat waves. The use of fossil energy must be replaced with a clean alternative.
This is not only a response to climate change, but also a duty codified by EU law, particularly the EU energy performance and renewable energy directive for buildings.
The use of heat pump symbiosis, cold energy grids, and renewable power/heat provides solutions.
A cryogenic thermal network to unlock the city’s “energy chest”
Traditional district heating and cooling distributes high-temperature thermal energy produced in the central plant to clients. Even using insulated pipes will lose some energy in the distribution.
Changing from the center to a distributed network and lowering the operating temperature avoids this disadvantage. A cold, multi-input and output network connects any type of building that requires heating and cooling.
They collect waste heat from many different sources (such as industrial processes, offices, data centers, or public infrastructure) and distribute it where it is needed. The heat pump raises the temperature to the required level at the points of demand.
Heat pump for clean thermal energy
A heat pump extracts heat from the source (air, water, ground, or thermal network) and lifts it to a higher temperature level to provide heating. At the same time, the sauce is slightly cooled.
Heat pumps always provide useful heating and cooling, and it depends on the system design to decide which of these services can be used.
Connecting heat providers (waste) with many energy users and (waste) heat providers through a heat network, and adding heat pumps of various types and capacity to apartments and buildings (see circles), allowing for waste heat and collection of best heating and cooling efficiency.
One user’s waste heat becomes another user’s heat source (see Figure 1).
Multiple benefits of a city
The benefits for cities that transform their heating and cooling infrastructure are abundant.
Replacing fossil fuels with clean energy reduces emissions and air pollution and improves air quality. Collecting waste heat from cooling limits the city’s heat island effect. A building with cooling helps citizens withstand heat waves. Cities and citizens are more resilient to already observable climate change. The storage tank and the energy grid itself act as a thermal battery that balances the battery. Local energy sources used in European technology solutions and designed and installed by the European workforce help Europe become largely independent of fossil energy.
Breaking the barrier to adoption
The implementation of heat pump technology and thermal networks faces challenges. Upfront investment costs, regulatory hurdles, and limited public awareness can slow progress.
Cities and policymakers should encourage modern heat pump-based heating and cooling by making deployment easier and economically attractive. Cities need to make their thermal networks part of public waste heat collection infrastructure.
Persuasive people are also important. Campaigns explaining policies, highlighting the benefits of clean heating and cooling, and explaining how end users are supported in decision-making, will create trust from decision makers and accelerate adoption.
The road to sustainable cities
City heating is decarbonized, efficient and sustainable, while creating cleaner, more affordable and more resilient communities. Technology exists, and the possibilities are enormous.
Let’s take advantage of that. Clean heating and cooling are not just choice, it is the basis of European energy and climate policy.
The editor of this opinion is created in collaboration with European Sustainable Energy in 2025. For open calls, see ec.europa.eu/eusew.
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About the Author
Thomas is a long-term (renewable) energy enthusiast. Apart from closely following energy transitions in both the power and heating sectors, he is the owner of a heat pump, PV power plant, a building where both peacefully cooperate.
Currently, Thomas represents Swedish scale-up Qvantum Industries as a Vice President’s government relations and official duties aimed at deploying heat pumps as viable solutions for single and multi-family buildings.
Before his current position, Thomas led the European Heat Pump Association as executive director. He is a member of today’s board of directors.
Disclaimer: This article is a contribution from a partner. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
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