Is this gap inevitable? Moving away from the current system will take time and effort, as it is strongly embedded in insti- tutions and regulations (see Box 2). However, I claim that two significantly linked steps could be taken. 4.1 Create representatives for district heating. One issue making the dialogue difficult is that DH is not well-represented. Its status remains unclear compared to the “big brothers” like electricity or natural gas. Acknowledging the existence of DH as a technical and political object per se could help bring back coherence both at the energy sector and cross-sector levels. It will also create the roots for facilitating interaction between project developers and policymakers. 4.2 Constructing expertise to mediate between the two worlds. To help operationalize the energy roadmaps, there is a lack of tools facilitating the project developments and adapting to the new context of sustainability. Mediation tools translating regulations into actionable actions and instruments would also be required. They go hand in hand with the construction of expertise: the French government wants to increase the per- centage of geothermal energy and waste heat into DH. But local project developers do not necessarily know the geother-
mal potential, the human resources to develop contracts with industrials, etc.
The expertise around sustainable DH is still under construc- tion, and the actors do not yet benefit from standardized tools supporting the development of innovative systems. I call for more efforts on standardized contracts adapted to innovative settings, developing indicators and reporting systems consid- ering local attractivity and local impact, formalized methods for cocreating DH with local actors, knowledge development within the local authorities on shallow geothermal energy, etc.
For further information please contact: johanna.ayrault@minesparis.psl.eu
Johanna Ayrault, PhD
After completing a Ph.D. in 2022 on collaborative governance for sustainable DH, I have continued investigating this fascinating object. I now work as a researcher for the CGS (Mines Paris-PSL) and the Institute for Urban Management and Governance (WU Wien). I would like to understand better how to support collaborative expertise building to help the development of sustainable DH and cooling systems. What makes this subject exciting to you? I discovered DH when starting my Ph.D. in 2019, and I really fell for it. People working in the sector are passionate, and it is wonderful to learn from them. I find it fascinating as it has a lot of potential for the energy transition, not only on a tech- nical or environmental level but also on a societal one. DH calls for collaboration, synergies, and a democratic approach to the ecological transition. It is also a challenging subject because it is not that much represented or acknowledged. But that makes it exciting because a lot is still to be built and the potential is big! What will your findings do for DH? I hope that my research will help build this expertise I’m talking about in this article: not only a technical one but an ecosystemic one. The ideal would be to develop sustainable DH methods based on different instruments (co-creation workshops, formalized partnerships, governance, etc.). However, I want to start by bringing more awareness to DH and participating in creating this “culture of district heating” in Europe. I hope my findings will push for more representative of DH and national experts of DH, which is a prerequisite for building collaborative expertise.
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