Assessment of heat supply options for decarbonising dwellings: case studies of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport

Canet, Alexandre 2021. Assessment of heat supply options for decarbonising dwellings: case studies of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Residential heat decarbonisation is a major challenge if the UK is to reach its objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris agreement. To date, the government has focused on national scale plans. However, the viability of heat decarbonisation pathways is also significantly affected by the local circumstances. The same heat supply options installed in one area may not result in the same costs and performance in another area. To develop local heat decarbonisation pathways, new data and tools need to be developed. In this thesis, several methods and models are described to begin to answer this problem, including: 1. A method for estimating the heat demand of different types of dwellings before and after implementing energy efficiency measures in local areas. Information about the type of dwellings in an area, their heat demand and the heat demand density of the area were derived to assess the heat supply options. 2. Models were developed to synthesise half-hourly heat production and energy consumption of ASHPs, GSHPs, natural gas/hydrogen boilers, resistance heaters and district heating. This was used to understand the timing and height of the peak energy demand of different heating technology, and also to calculate the costs for reinforcing the electricity distribution network and converting the natural gas network to hydrogen or different heat decarbonisation pathways. 3. An optimisation model was used to assess the heat supply options for local areas. These methods and models were demonstrated in case studies in the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. The results showed that these local authorities should include a significant amount of individual heat pumps and dwellings connected to district heating by 2050 to decarbonise heat. Hydrogen boilers were not found to be an economically viable option.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Engineering
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Heat decarbonisation, Heat demand, District heating, Heat pump
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 December 2021
Last Modified:	04 Jan 2023 02:39
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/146292

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