Abstract
This study aims to provide detailed information on the key technologies that utilize renewables for decarbonization and electrification of the residential heating sector. To contextualize and compare the economics of the technologies, a levelized cost model is employed to perform a comparative analysis for a dense urban area in Switzerland. The outcome shows that decarbonization of the heat supply with a dominant share of renewables is feasible, but it is challenged by the high cost of some options. In the given context (current energy and CO2 prices, no coercive measures), the rapid shift from conventional boilers to electrification via decentralized heat pumps and/or the introduction of targeted small-scale thermal energy networks utilizing cheap local resources like industrial excess heat is the most viable option. The replacement of natural gas boilers with electrification technologies also is recommendable because it would result in a sixfold reduction in specific CO2 emissions. Wide-scale application of heat pumps may require significant electricity grid reinforcement which ultimately may escalate the costs. Large-scale district heating systems are currently relatively expensive due to the high network costs and require a sustainable financing mechanism. To speed up the energy transition, policy interventions by the government are urgently needed.
Highlights
Climate change poses immense environmental, social, and economic risks to the world and threatens to undo decades of improvements to human quality of life
The renewable sources considered for centralized heating including biomass waste, industrial excess heat (IEH), and solar are
The values shown in the table do not take into account the efficiency of the heating system except for solar thermal
Summary
Climate change poses immense environmental, social, and economic risks to the world and threatens to undo decades of improvements to human quality of life. Deep emission reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and in particular of CO2 emissions from the current energy systems are inevitable. In the Paris Agreement, the target was set to limit the increase in mean surface temperature to less than 2 °C compared to preindustrial levels. To ensure a probability beyond two-thirds of achieving the target, the global cumulative C O2 emissions must remain in the range of 550–1300 Gt by 2050 (SDSN/IDDRI 2014). The agreement calls on countries to intensify their efforts to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions globally by 2050. The ambitious goal requires each country to reshape its energy systems to run mostly on renewables, in combination with
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