The EU’s New Push For The Cheapest New Energy – Energy Efficiency

The energy we don’t use: How to realize the benefits of the greenest, most affordable energy

Kim Fausing, 17 May 2022 (World Economic Forum)

“…While all tools to increase energy independence, reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills are on the table, one should be at the top of the list for urgent action: energy efficiency…By using existing technologies and focusing on first reducing the amount of energy used, reusing energy already produced and finally replacing the energy with green alternatives, we can, for example, turn the European heat supply green…Three areas are especially ripe for action to rapidly reduce energy consumption: 1) making our buildings smart; 2) using excess heat from supermarkets, data centres or industry to heat our homes and businesses; and 3) rethinking processes for carbon neutral industry…

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… Digital solutions, which are easy and quick to install, create smart, energy efficient buildings…[Model predictive control (MPC) systems] collect data on several factors – including the weather, showering habits of the inhabitants and expensive peak hours – and adjust the supply of energy accordingly, all while securing optimal thermal comfort…[Digital technologies can] optimally control the HVAC system…[to cut energy costs for tenants and allow] the buildings to act as energy batteries, shifting consumption to the periods during the day, where energy is cheaper…[Residents’ typically save 10% on energy costs,] building owners save up to 30% in technical maintenance costs and district heating companies can use up to 20% less power at peak hours…

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…[We can also] reuse energy already produced…[Existing cooling and heat recovery technologies can transform] supermarkets from energy consumers to sources of sustainable energy…[They can recycle] 95% of the excess heat from the cooling system by having a heat recovery system installed...[and save about 70% on] district heating costs and 37% on electricity. The excess heat provides heating for the store and around 15 households in the neighbourhood…The same principle can be applied to data centres and industry, which both consume enormous amounts of energy – and create enormous amounts of heat…” click here for more

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