Integrated assessment on the implementation of sustainable heat technologies in the built environment in Harbin, China

Yang, Tianrun; Li, Wen; Kramer, Gert Jan

doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2023.116764

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Therefore, for clean heat transition in southern China, decarbonizing the power sector is more economically attractive than STES. Some studies have investigated the economic and environmental performance of sustainable heating options replacing coal-based heating in the Chinese context, including NGBs [22], ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) [273], biomass boilers (BBs) [22], and geothermal heating (GH) [274]. Figure 3.18 compares the LCOHs and CO2 avoidance costs of the STES and the sustainable heating options.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among these measures, natural gas is not preferred for a long-term transition to fully renewable energy. Electric heating generates more carbon emissions than coal-fired heating due to the current power structure in China, which is dominated by coal-fired power [22].…”

Section: Heat In the Built Environment In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A challenge for decarbonizing heating in the built environment is the seasonal mismatch between heat demand and generation from sustainable sources. Many sustainable heat supply systems are characterized by high initial investment and low operating costs [22]. Therefore, an installed capacity tailored at peak demand is not cost-effective.…”

Section: Seasonal Thermal Energy Storagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Public areas available for borehole installation include those with open spaces and greenery. The STES systems in the two example communities were modeled using TRNSYS (Figure 5.5) to simulate the heat demand in a manner similar to that in our previous work [22,367]. The solar-collector area was set according to the maximum installation area.…”

Section: Heat-demand Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The objective of this study was to partially fill these knowledge gaps by evaluating the technical feasibility and economic and environmental consequences of replacing DH systems with STES, along with the impact on renewable power integration. The Heilongjiang province of northeast China, where STES has exhibited promising results considering the local context (cold climate and coal-dominant DH) [22], was selected for a case study. The main contributions of this research are as follows: 1) we investigated the extent to which STES with solar heat can replace the traditional fossil fuel-based DH system in a densely populated area, 2) we evaluated the economic and environmental consequences of gradually replacing DH with STES in a regional power and DH system until 100% replacement is achieved, and 3) we quantified the extent to which STES can increase renewable energy penetration in the power system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal thermal energy storage of solar heat: Its role in the clean heating transition in China

Yang

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Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, countries and regions have been submitting their climate action plans, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in the coming decades to combat climate change. Since fossil fuels are fundamentally storable and renewables almost invariably less so, the seasonality of heat demand in the built environment provides a real challenge for the decarbonization of this sector. Seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) can harvest and store solar thermal energy in summer and use it for heating in winter, and could thereby be an enabler for the transition to fossil fuel-free heat supply. This thesis aims to conduct an in-depth analysis and optimization of STES technologies employing solar heat from technical, economic, environmental, and implementation feasibility perspectives to identify their overall attractiveness in the heating market and to assess their benefits in the clean heating transition and renewable power integration. The analysis in this thesis focuses on the heat transition in the built environment in China. We first conduct a comprehensive techno-economic review analysis of STES technologies based on previous research and projects worldwide to provide a general overview of the development status, barriers, and economic competitiveness of STES technologies in the current heating market. Second, we study STES technologies at four locations in China to assess how the local context impacts the optimal configuration planning, techno-economic-environmental performance, and feasibility of STES applications. The results show that the prospects for STES of solar heat vary across China. STES implementation is attractive in locations with rich solar resources, high heating loads, and current coal-based heating systems. Appropriately reducing the borehole number for the STES system in cold climates and increasing the solar collector area in warm climates is conducive to achieving a lower CO2 avoidance cost. Third, we zoom in on the most promising regions for STES to compare the technical, economic, and environmental performance of STES with other sustainable heating technologies and their implementation feasibility at the local level. It is found that STES of solar heat is attractive with competitive levelized cost of heat and CO2 avoidance cost compared to natural gas boiler, biomass boiler, electric boiler, and solar-assisted ground source heat pump. It is a promising technology with a decreasing levelized cost of heat and increasing CO2 emission reduction ability. Finally, we study STES in the context of the regional energy system. We specifically evaluate the impact of replacing (coal-based) district heating systems with STES on the regional power and heat supply and the effects that the introduction of STES has on renewable power integration. We conclude that replacing fossil fuel-based district heating systems with STES technologies can reduce fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions across the combined heat and power systems at an affordable cost. STES in fact facilitates the integration of wind and solar power into power grids by reducing curtailment. STES of solar heat offers an attractive option for realizing a sustainable heating transition in line with the carbon-neutral target.

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