Power generated within the community and the utilisation of the heat for the community that surrounds the power source. Not a new idea but more schemes are beginning to be commissioned, including the Olympic Park. Why now?
District energy systems produce steam, hot water or chilled water at a central energy centre. The steam or water is distributed in pre-insulated pipework to individual buildings for space heating, domestic hot water and air conditioning. District heating plants can provide higher efficiencies and better pollution control than localised boilers. District heating with combined heat and power (CHPDH) is considered in some circles to be the cheapest method of cutting carbon emissions, and has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all fossil generation plants.
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