HOT|COOL NO. 7/2023 "SUCCESSES IN DISTRICT HEATING"

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING

In times of fundamental transitions, like the transition of the energy sector, it becomes imperative to facilitate effective knowledge sharing to boost the general understanding of the sector and raise public awareness.

By Jan Eric Thorsen and Oddgeir Gudmundsson, Directors, Climate Solutions, Danfoss A/S, Nordborg, Denmark

Sector coupling – generating and sharing knowledge is key

Energy system experts actively share information in the format of white papers and research papers and participate in various communication forums and conferences. While these activi- ties are well suited to address specific audience groups, there is also a need to provide easy-to-grasp material, with as low entry barriers as possible, to communicate the benefits and importance of our sector to the politicians and the general public. In this aspect, we recognize that written documents can be considered a significant barrier in today’s fast-paced world, and a more relaxed and visualized approach may be better suited. With that perspective in mind, we started exploring the possibility of conveying our thoughts and insights on complex matters in a simple video-based format of shorter duration. As a first step in this journey, we have created a video series focusing on one of the trending topics in our sector: energy system integration via sector coupling.­

The terms smart energy systems, sector coupling, or sector integration are widely applied to scope the future green energy system. How it is perceived is often linked to the area of focus for the individual, where the terms are not always anchored in the bigger perspective, risking good intentions falling short of the true potential of the considered system. This calls for networking and cooperation of experts across sectors and professions to generate helpful insights for developing a shared vision and understanding of the overall energy system. It is about painting the big picture with adequate details for revealing the “why” and “how.” Over the years, we have had the privilege and pleasure of be-ing part of such cooperations through numerous research pro-jects and platforms, where the future energy system has been discussed, analyzed, and demonstrated. This has provided great insights and understanding we would like to convey further. Brian Vad Mathiesen, Professor Aalborg University: “The first principle of energy ef- ficiency is pivotal for handling the energy and climate crises. Through our research in Smart Energy Systems, e.g., in Heat Road­ map Europe, we can see that energy sys- tem design and the connection between sectors creates additional synergies and efficiency to the end

Eloi Piel, Director Market Intelligence : “We must move beyond the rhetoric that the heat sector is complex and local. There is obviously complexity with the many actors involved and the diversity of potential solutions. And it is local, as operators valorize local streams of renewable and waste heat. This being said the contribution of

sustainable and competitive district heat to the broader transformation of the energy system must be further explained to citizens and policy-makers on the basis of expert knowledge.”

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