Benjamin Köhler

Demand and potential for seasonal heat storage in urban district heating systems in aquifer thermal energy storages

District heating is becoming increasingly important in the decarbonisation of the heat supply for buildings throughout Europe. District heating networks must therefore be expanded and decarbonised at the same time. Seasonal heat storage is important to increase the utilisation of renewable and waste

Heating the Future: Overcoming Challenges and Gaining Stakeholder Support for District Heating Transformation

District heating plays an important role in many studies and scenarios for reaching greenhouse gas neutrality in Germany’s heating sector. In some scenarios, the share increases to up to 30 % of the final energy demand for heat supply in buildings. Expanding and transforming district heating will

Summary report

Conceptual considerations on a legal regulation for the nationwide introduction of municipal heat planning

The heat transition can only succeed if many millions of individual investment decisions by homeowners and businesses are coordinated in such a way that a target-compliant heating system is created. Municipal heating planning is the key instrument for the necessary orientation and coordination. Sinc

Policy frameworks for district heating: A comprehensive overview and analysis of regulations and support measures across Europe

This paper presents an overview of policy frameworks for district heating (DH) in Europe. We develop a classification for policy aspects addressing DH, comprising regulation of ownership, prices, metering, consumer grid connection, third party access as well as support schemes and carbon taxes. This

Overview of markets and regulatory frameworks under the revised Renewable Energy Directive

District heating and cooling in the European Union

This study contributes to an enhanced knowledge of European District Heating and Cooling (DHC) markets, needed to develop policies, initiatives and projects contributing to achieving the decarbonization targets set by the European Green Deal. In particular, the study aims at providing, through a det

Study on behalf of the European Climate Foundation

The role of biomass in the decarbonisation of the heating sector

Renewable heating is currently dominated by biomass, accounting for around 80 % of the renewable energy used for heating1. Within the heating sector, biomass is mainly used in the form of solid biomass: in 2019, solid biomass made up for 95 % of the biomass used for heating, followed by biogas (4%)