Technology and strategy roadmap development for connecting residential areas to district heating

By 2050, the Netherlands aims to achieve a climate-neutral society, however over 90% of buildings currently use natural gas or fossil fuel oil as their main resource of energy. To align with this goal, the Dutch energy company is taking measures to phase out natural gas and promote district heating. This research outlines a strategic path for...

Decarbonizing the Dutch Energy System: The Impact of Renewable District Heating on the Electricity and Heating Sector

Urgent and significant changes in all parts of the current Dutch energy system are required to achieve the national climate goals. This thesis explores the impact from traditional to renewable district heating (DH) on the Dutch electricity and heating sector, at both a national and regional level. The results provide relevant lessons for policy...

Accelerating the energy transition: Exploring opportunities for accelerated upscaling of geothermal district heating applications in Europe

Geothermal sources could provide society with clean and renewable energy nearly eternally. Geothermal district heating, in particular, could play a significant role in the energy transition. Although the application has been implemented to some extent, further upscaling is challenging due to various economic, technical and institutional...

Anticipating social acceptance of heating alternatives in Amsterdam: Using value conflicts in an agent-based model

The municipality of Amsterdam is currently in the middle of a heat transition. The municipalit aims to cut down the use of natural gas for space heating in order to reduce its impact on the natural environment. For the Geerdinkhof neighborhood in Amsterdam South-East, the municipality is planning to implement a district heating system. These...

Techno-economic evaluation of a waste heat assisted district heating system

The purpose of this research is to find an alternative to the natural gas-fueled heating systems of dwellings for the neighborhood of Westenholte. Reasons for replacing this system include the high GHG emissions, resulting from the combustion product of natural gas (CO2), in addition to its greenhouse effect. As a solution to replace the GHG...

Effect of the surrounding on the construction cost of district heating networks and similar infrastructures: Analysis based on drinking water and natural gas replacement projects

Integrating data center waste heat into the district heating network in Amsterdam

District heating is gaining popularity and can serve as an alternative for the use of natural gas to provide heat to residential areas. District heating systems can make use of heat sources that are often locally distracted and would have otherwise been wasted. Data centers could act as low temperature heat sources by recovering residual heat...

Design Space for Heat Network Systems: Learning from the Electricity, Gas, Water and Wastewater Network Systems

As a move away from the natural gas based heating, the Dutch government identified district heating networks as most economical alternative to the natural gas. However, the future plans for the district heating sector have faced challenge on the question of the design of heat market and management of factors such as ownership, network access,...

Datacenters as residual heat source for district heating in residential neighbourhoods of Amsterdam

The transformation of the residential heating system of Amsterdam into a sustainable heating system that no longer makes use of natural gas in 2050, of which 230.000 households will be heated with district heating, demands an exploration of sustainable local heat sources to use for district heating in Amsterdam. This aligns with the fundamentals...

Environmental impact of the materials used in the Dutch heat transition

The Dutch government set two environmental goals by 2050. One of them is being climate neutral and the other one is to have a circular economy. In order to meet both goals in the best environmental conditions, extensive environmental research is required. This thesis is one of these researches and its main focus is on the climate neutral goal by...

Optimization of a District Heating Network with the focus on heat loss

In the Netherlands most houses and buildings are connected to a gas network since the nineteen seventies to heat our houses and cook. In march of this year the new Dutch government announced that to meet the climate accord of Paris all dutch household should be of the gas net in 2030. To do this multiple alternatives to heat homes are available...

Gas-free Ramplaankwartier: Spatial Measures for the Implementation of Sustainable Energy in Existing Neighbourhoods

Spatial impact of the energy transition is a subject that has not been studied extensively as of now. Developing a spatial plan for a sustainable energy system in an early phase will provide insight in practical and spatial implications that are related to these systems. This is especially relevant in existing neighbourhoods, where the existing...

Towards effective heat transition policy in South-Holland: Comparing a local market driven approach and a regional plan driven approach for the design of the low-temperature heating system in South-Holland, and exploring Q-methodology to design a process of collective learning and decision making between residents and municipalities

“Heating and cooling remain neglected areas of energy policy and technology, but their decarbonisation is a fundamental element of a low-carbon economy.” (IEA, 2012). In The Netherlands the total heat demand needs to be reduced and the heat provision needs to become more sustainable (Kamp, 2015). By 2021, municipalities therefore need to have...

Reducing the energy demand and creating quality for the users with observance of (historical) values in the renovation of the Intervamflats at the Camera Obscuradreef in Utrecht Overvecht

The two main problems of the Intervamflats are comfort and energy consumption. The portiekflats from 1964 are not well insulated, which result in spaces that can not be heated sufficiently and a high-energy consumption. To make these portiekflats comply with current comfort standards and legislation (e.g. Energieakkoord: social housing must have...