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UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
Funding for three UK green heat network projects
Tens of thousands of UK homes, businesses and public buildings are a step closer to benefitting from greener, cleaner energy thanks to £44mn of new government funding – which addresses the need to reduce the carbon intensity of heating homes and workspaces.
Of the £44mn, £30mn will fund three innovative heat network projects in South-East London, Manchester and Cambridgeshire:
- More than £12mn to develop a heat network in the London Borough of Bexley to supply heat to 21,000 homes. Heat will be drawn centrally from processing of non-recyclable waste. The project is part of plans by Vattenfall to deliver low-carbon heating to 75,000 homes across the Thames Estuary over the next decade.
- £15mn to develop a network across Manchester’s city centre to distribute low-carbon electricity, heat and cooling to buildings including the local hospital, social and private housing, student accommodation, and commercial organisations such as the Heineken brewery. Heating will be sourced from solar panels and heat pumps.
- £3mn for a community-led project in the Cambridgeshire village of Swaffham Prior, which will allow 300 properties to collectively transition from oil to a network of hybrid ground and air source heat pumps.
A further £15mn will benefit 11 projects in England, Scotland and Wales to explore ways the UK can develop and use efficient, low-carbon technologies for heating and cooling buildings.
Projects include one being led by Durham University that is exploring whether water in flooded, abandoned coal mines could be used as a low-carbon geothermal source of heat. Another scheme from the University of Birmingham looks at ways that electricity from renewable sources can be stored in times of low demand to meet requirements at peak periods.
The funding announcement came ahead of the publication of the government’s proposed Heat and Buildings Strategy which will set out how carbon emissions in homes and workspaces will be addressed to meet commitments to end contributions to climate change by 2050. The strategy is due to be published this year, says the government.
