As the electricity sector decarbonises, policymakers and advisers are increasingly focusing on the decarbonisation of the heat sector. This has been embodied by multiple consultations on the topic, such as Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming from the Committee on Climate Change. One of the most promising technologies in the short term is heat networks, which supply heat from a central source through a network to multiple end-users.
This Chart of the week examines the scale of current alternative heat sources in three European countries from Cornwall Insight’s recent Insight Paper. It discusses how key lessons from European heat networks could be applied to the UK, accelerating network development through legislative change to aid sector decarbonisation.