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District heating plays a key role in achieving high primary energy savings and the reduction of the overall environmental impact of the energy sector. This was recently recognized by the European Commission, which emphasizes the importance of these systems, especially when integrated with renewable energy sources, like solar, biomass, geothermal, etc. On the other hand, high amounts of heat are currently being wasted in the industry sector, which causes low energy efficiency of these processes. This excess heat can be utilized and transported to the final customer by a distribution network. The main goal of this research was to calculate the potential for excess heat utilization in district heating systems by implementing the levelized cost of excess heat method. Additionally, this paper proves the economic and environmental benefits of switching from individual heating solutions to a district heating system. This was done by using the QGIS software. The variation of different relevant parameters was taken into account in the sensitivity analysis. Therefore, the final result was the determination of the maximum potential distance of the excess heat source from the demand, for different available heat supplies, costs of pipes, and excess heat prices.

This study examines the trends and impacts of heat waves (HWs) and cold waves (CWs) in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India, from 1961 to 2020, utilizing gridded daily maximum and minimum temperature data from the Indian Meteorological Department. This study analyzes the decadal totals of days, maximum continuous duration days, and mean maximum and minimum temperatures of HWs and CWs across nine meteorological stations. The findings reveal a significant increase in HW occurrences, particularly in stations like Fatehpur and Varanasi, while a decline in CW events is noted across the region. The Excess Heat Factor (EHF) index indicates a rising trend in heat stress events, and this study suggests that the intensity of HWs is increasing due to changes in temperature variability rather than mean warming alone.

The molar heat capacities, C P , of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (1) + pyrrolidin-2-one or 1-methylpyrrolidin-2-one (2) + cyclopentanone or cyclohexanone (3) ternary mixtures have been measured at 293.15, 298.15, 303.15 and 308.15 K and 0.1 MPa using micro-differential scanning calorimeter. The observed C P data have been utilized to evaluate their excess heat capacities, ( C P E ) 123 values, and same have been fitted to Redlich–Kister equation to predict ternary adjustable parameters along with their standard deviations. The Moelywn-Huggins concept (Huggins in Polymer 12:389–399, 1971 ) of interactions between the surfaces of constituent molecules in binary mixtures has been extended to ternary mixtures using topology of the constituent molecules to obtain expression (Graph theory) that predict correctly the ( C P E ) 123 data of the present mixtures. The observed ( C P E ) 123 data have also been analyzed in terms of modified Flory’s theory.

Heatwaves represent a significant natural hazard in Australia, arguably more hazardous to human life than bushfires, tropical cyclones and floods. In the 2008/2009 summer, for example, many more lives were lost to heatwaves than to that summer’s bushfires which were among the worst in the history of the Australian nation. For many years, these other forms of natural disaster have received much greater public attention than heatwaves, although there are some signs of change. We propose a new index, called the excess heat factor (EHF) for use in Australian heatwave monitoring and forecasting. The index is based on a three-day-averaged daily mean temperature (DMT), and is intended to capture heatwave intensity as it applies to human health outcomes, although its usefulness is likely to be much broader and with potential for international applicability. The index is described and placed in a climatological context in order to derive heatwave severity. Heatwave severity, as characterised by the climatological distribution of heatwave intensity, has been used to normalise the climatological variation in heatwave intensity range across Australia. This methodology was used to introduce a pilot national heatwave forecasting service for Australia during the 2013/2014 summer. Some results on the performance of the service are presented.

Ambulance data has been reported to be a sensitive indicator of health service use during hot days, but there is no comprehensive summary of the quantitative association between heat and ambulance dispatches. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to retrieve and synthesise evidence published up to 31 August 2022 about the association between heat, prolonged heat (i.e. heatwaves), and the risk of ambulance dispatches. We initially identified 3628 peer-reviewed papers and included 48 papers which satisfied the inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses showed that, for each 5 °C increase in mean temperature, the risk of ambulance dispatches for all causes and for cardiovascular diseases increased by 7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 5%, 10%) and 2% (95% CI: 1%, 3%), respectively, but not for respiratory diseases. The risk of ambulance dispatches increased by 6% (95% CI: 4%, 7%), 7% (95% CI: 5%, 9%), and 18% (95% CI: 12%, 23%) under low-intensity, severe, and extreme heatwaves, respectively. We observed two potential sources of bias in the existing literature: (1) bias in temperature exposure measurement; and (2) bias in the ascertainment of ambulance dispatch causes. This review suggests that heat exposure is associated with an increased risk of ambulance dispatches, and there is a dose-response relationship between heatwave intensity and the risk of ambulance dispatches. For future studies assessing the heat-ambulance association, we recommend that (1) using data on spatially refined gridded temperature that is either very well interpolated or derived from satellite imaging may be an alternative to reduce exposure measurement bias; and (2) linking ambulance data with hospital admission data can be useful to improve health outcome classification.

District heating (DH) is an important technology in future smart energy systems as it allows for an efficient implementation of various renewable energy sources. As DH develops towards lower temperatures and renewable electricity production increases, new types of heat sources become relevant. Thus, the aim of this article is to assess the potential for utilizing four unconventional excess heat (UEH) sources in DH systems, namely: Data centers, wastewater treatment, metros and service sector buildings. The main method used to assess the UEH potentials is an energy system analysis focusing on the availability and economic feasibility of utilizing the UEH sources in national contexts. The analysis consists of 2015 and 2050 scenarios for Germany, Spain and France. The results show a potential for utilizing the UEH potentials in all three countries, both in 2015 and 2050 systems. The potentials are highest in the 2050 scenarios, primarily due to larger DH shares. Furthermore, the potentials are limited by competition with other heat supply sources, conjunction with heat demands and feasible heat pump operation. In conclusion, the four UEH sources could impact the local DH systems, but in a national energy system context they are expected to play a minor role.

This research investigates heatwaves spatiotemporal variations, their decadal trends, and aspects in different climate zones over Iran. The mean daily maximum temperature and the mean daily minimum temperature from 49 ground stations covering 40 years (1981–2020) were collected. Using excess heat factor, we computed five heatwave aspects, including heat wave number (HWN), heat wave frequency (HWF), heat wave duration (HWD), heat wave magnitude (HWM), and heat wave amplitude (HWA), over different climate zones of Iran. The result showed that the average HWN, HWF, and HWD had been about 2.5 events, 12 days, and 6 days/year, respectively. The findings highlight that distinct climate zones may have different heatwave responses within the country. The maximum HWN observes in the eastern and southwestern parts of the country due to the higher sensible heat flux over these regions. The maximum HWM is seen in the northwest, northeast, and mountainous regions. The high values of the HWA are seen in the northwest due to the more significant positive temperature anomaly in this region. This result emphasizes the latitudinal effect of local climatology in the HWA and HWM variations. The findings show that all heatwave aspects, especially HWF and HWD, have increased rapidly in the recent decade (the 2010s) compared to previous decades in different climate zones. The heatwave trend showed that HWN and HWF increased in 87.75% of the country and HWD and HWA increased in 73.46% and 71.42% of the country, respectively.

Energy-intensive industries across the EU-28 release unused heat into the environment. This excess heat can be utilized for district heating systems. However, this is the exception today, and the potential contribution to the decarbonization of district heating is not well quantified. An estimation of excess heat, based on industrial processes, and spatial matching to district heating areas is necessary. We present a georeferenced industrial database with annual production and excess heat potentials at different temperature levels matched with current and possible district heating areas. Our results show a total potential of 960 PJ/a (267 TWh/a) of excess heat when the exhaust gases are cooled down to 25 °C, with 47% of the 1.608 studied industrial sites inside or within a 10 km distance of district heating areas. The calculated potentials reveal that currently 230 PJ/a (64 TWh/a) of excess heat is available for district heating areas, about 17% of today’s demand of buildings for district heating. In the future, widespread and low-temperature district heating areas increase the available excess heat to 258 PJ/a (72 TWh/a) at 55 °C or 679 PJ/a (189 TWh/a) at 25 °C. We show that industrial excess heat can substantially contribute to decarbonize district heating, however, the major share of heat will need to be supplied by renewables.

Urban waste heat recovery, in which low temperature heat from urban sources is recovered for use in a district heat network, has a great deal of potential in helping to achieve 2050 climate goals. For example, heat from data centres, metro systems, public sector buildings and waste water treatment plants could be used to supply 10% of Europe’s heat demand. Despite this, at present, urban waste heat recovery is not widespread and is an immature technology. Based on interviews with urban waste heat stakeholders, investors interested in green investments, and experience from demonstrator projects, a number of recommendations are made. It is suggested that policy raising awareness of waste heat recovery, encouraging investment and creating a legal framework should be implemented. It is also recommended that pilot projects should be promoted to help demonstrate technical and economic feasibility. A pilot credit facility is suggested aimed at bridging the gap between potential investors and heat recovery projects.

This paper aims to investigate the following research questions: (1) what are the hourly patterns of heat index and heat-related emergency medical service (EMS) incidents during summertime?; and (2) how do the lagged effects of heat intensity and hourly excess heat (HEH) vary by heat-related symptoms? Using the hourly weather and heat-related EMS call data in Austin-Travis County, Texas, this paper reveals the relationship between heat index patterns on an hourly basis and heat-related health issues and evaluates the immediate health effects of extreme heat events by utilizing a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). Delving into the heat index intensity and HEH, our findings suggest that higher heat intensity has immediate, short-term lagged effects on all causes of heat-related EMS incidents, including in cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, and non-severe cases, while its relative risk (RR) varies by time. HEH also shows a short-term cumulative lagged effect within 5 h in all-cause, cardiovascular, and non-severe symptoms, while there are no statistically significant RRs found for respiratory and neurological cases in the short term. Our findings could be a reference for policymakers when devoting resources, developing extreme heat warning standards, and optimizing local EMS services, providing data-driven evidence for the effective deployment of ambulances.