Trends of European research and development in district heating technologies

There is a considerable diversity of district heating (DH) technologies, components and interaction in EU countries. The trends and developments of DH are investigated in this paper. Research of four areas related to DH systems and their interaction with: fossil fuels, renewable energy (RE) sources, energy efficiency of the systems and the impact on the environment and the human health are described in the following content. The key conclusion obtained from this review is that the DH development requires more flexible energy systems with building automations, more significant contribution of RE sources, more dynamic prosumers׳ participation, and integration with mix fuel energy systems, as part of smart energy sustainable systems in smart cities. These are the main issues that Europe has to address in order to establish sustainable DH systems across its countries.This research was conducted in collaboration between Wrocław University of Technology (Poland) and Brunel University London (UK). The support for the Polish team was by the Ministry of Science and HigherEducationunderGrantno.50532

Approaches in local energy planning: Examples from a Swedish region

This paper presents a study in which ten small local authorities were asked how they would like to approach local stakeholders in their energy-planning. Based on the answers this paper discusses participation in an energy-planning context and shows how goals and methods may differ according to the different target groups the local authorities wish to reach. The different approaches to stakeholder participation are then categorised into four categories \u96 participation as capacity building, participation as a way to create acceptance, participation as a way to change behaviour and participation as partnership building \u96 and discussed in relation to participation literature