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Heat Roadmap Europe: strategic heating transition typology as a basis for policy recommendations

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Abstract

In order to support European-wide transition of heating systems, it is useful to categorise the types of transitions that are necessary. Coherent actions are needed at (supra-)national level to support transition aligned with the energy efficiency first principle and long-term development of a smart energy system. Owing to the decentralised nature of heating, transition must also reflect particular local circumstances. This article uses commonalities between countries to create a representative typology, which can suggest appropriate policies for transition. Following the energy efficiency first principle, transition should include supply-side and demand-side efficiency to ensure coherency and efficient use of resources. Their comparative analysis supports implementing the energy efficiency first principle locally, and a more coherent European strategy for the heating sector. Methodologically, 14 national heating strategies are considered which include current and future energy system developments, demand- and supply side energy efficiency, hectare-level thermal mapping and energy system analysis. Four heat sector types are proposed and discussed. These are (1) extant heat planning traditions, aiming for more efficiency and integration; (2) extant heating infrastructure, aiming to refurbish and upgrade both building stock and existing heating infrastructure; (3) existing gas infrastructure, requiring radical transition; (4) and those without strong historic heat planning traditions.

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Acknowledgements

The work presented builds heavily on the data and results generated in the Heat Roadmap Europe project, which was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program (GA 695989), and research funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark, grant number 6154-00022B RE-INVEST — Renewable Energy Investment Strategies — A two-dimensional interconnectivity approach project. The authors wish to thank the partners for their collaboration in this project. We also thank the reviewers for their substantial and constructive suggestions, which have helped improve and clarify this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Planning, Aalborg University, A.C. Meyers Vænge 15, 2450, Copenhagen SV, Denmark

    Susana Paardekooper, Nis Bertelsen & Brian Vad Mathiesen

  2. Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Rendsburggade 14, 9000, Aalborg, Denmark

    Henrik Lund & Jakob Zinck Thellufsen

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  1. Susana Paardekooper
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Contributions

Conceptualization: SP and HL. Methodology: SP. Formal analysis and investigation: SP. Data curation: SP. Writing—original draft preparation: SP. Writing—review and editing: SP, HL, JZT, NB, and BVM. Supervision: HL and JZT. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Susana Paardekooper.

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Paardekooper, S., Lund, H., Thellufsen, J.Z. et al. Heat Roadmap Europe: strategic heating transition typology as a basis for policy recommendations. Energy Efficiency 15, 32 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-022-10030-3

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