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Centralised Boilers
Contents
- Impact
- Global markets
- Definition
- Constraints
- Assumptions
- References
IMPACT – What are the impacts of Centralised Boilers?
Energy system
Unlikely to have significant impact on final energy demand.
May decrease total electricity consumption slightly.
Likely to increase total fossil fuel consumption particularly if natural gas prices remain low.
Could increase the share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix if biomass or waste-fired boilers are favoured.
Likely to reduce energy independence by promoting fossil imports.
Environment & Climate
Could reduce global CO2 emissions if biomass- and waste- fired boilers are favoured.
Could have a certain impact on global CO2 emissions if natural gas and heating oil fired boilers are favoured.
Could decrease deposited waste if waste fired boilers are favoured.
Society & Economy
Likely to increase the cost of the energy transition as it requires deployment of district heating networks and CHP technologies as well as, in principle building efficiency improvements.
GLOBAL MARKET – What is the global market for Centralised Boilers?
DEFINITION / CONSTRAINTS
DEFINITION - What is a Centralised Boiler?
A boiler generates hot water or steam by burning fuel. For large, centralised boilers, a wide range of fuels, such as natural gas, heating oil, wood, biomass, and municipal solid waste can be used, although natural gas, heating oil and wood are the most common fuels.
Centralised boilers are usually part of a district heating system. The primary interest in deploying district heating is to use CHP plants to generate electricity and heat to improve the overall energy efficiency. Such systems would typically also include back-up boilers that ensure that the district heat demand can always be met even if the CHP plant is not operated.
CONSTRAINTS - What are the key barriers facing Centralised Boilers deployment?
• Requires district heating infrastructure (network) which is capital intensive to deploy, particularly as a retrofit.
• Boilers that are designed for burning biomass or municipal waste tend to be more expensive and complex than those that operate on natural gas or heating oil.