HOT|COOL MAGAZINE SPECIAL COLLECTION 1/2022

DISTRICT HEATING AND COOLING IS A NATURAL PART OF THE URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE IN MODERN CITIES. But who should start and how? Policymaker or end-user?

By Anders Dyrelund, Frederik Palshøj Bigum and Emil Reinhold Kristensen, Ramboll

More than a century ago, all policymakers realized that a modern city needs an infra- structure for the environment, in fact, two, one for water and one for wastewater. Sanitary installations had priority.

Today, modern societies set high standards, not only for af- fordable energy but also for thermal comfort, clean air, and independency of imported fuels, and they care to prevent cli- mate change.

But how to get started? “Is it the hen or the egg?” Is it at the national or the local level? We think both.

In Denmark, district heating started in most local communities 50 to 100 years ago, organized by municipal-owned utilities in cities and by the consumer co-operatives in the smaller com- munities. Most of the remaining communities followed shortly after 1979, encouraged by the strong national energy policy and the Heat Supply Act. The Parliament Our recommendations to policymakers at the national lev- el are to create a legal framework with the aim of imple- menting the national energy policy, which should focus on cost-effective, resilient, and environmentally friendly energy services:

Do we have solutions that solve all-in-one in a cost-effective way?

Yes, we have had it for decades, in particular in Denmark. Until recently, this must have been a secret for many policymakers, as we have states that waste huge amounts of energy and are dependent on imported energy. All readers of this magazine know that the secret solution is to establish underground networks for district heating and cool- ing as part of the urban infrastructure. We have the technolo- gy and the methodologies for planning and design. It is just a matter of information and management at a national and local level.

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