Heating up the twin transition
Yesterday and today, the International Energy Agency’s 8th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency is held in Paris. Against pressing climate imperatives, ministers, CEOs and senior leaders from more than 80 countries are gathered to spur faster progress on energy efficiency and policy action in areas such as innovation, digitalisation and finance.
Backed by turbulent energy markets and the increasing momentum behind energy efficiency in buildings, transport and industry, a special report published yesterday highlights that doubling the annual energy efficiency progress from 2.2 per cent today to over 4 percent annually by 2030 could cut CO2 emissions by almost one-third from current levels, and at the same time create 12 millions of jobs, expand energy access to 800 million people and reduce energy bills among other social and economic benefits. Against this inciting prospect, Denmark stands out as a living showcase of the societal benefits sprouting from a long-term national focus on energy efficiency. In fact, IEA’s previous gathering of its kind was held in Sønderborg, Denmark, where the city was dubbed the global capital of energy efficiency.
One way Denmark has harvested the societal, environmental, and economic benefits from energy-efficient measures is through its focus on district heating. Today, Denmark’s widespread use of district heating and combined heating and power is one of the most important reasons why it has been possible for Denmark to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption over several decades. With a specific focus on digitalisation as a driver in this endeavour, State of Green and the Danish District Heating Association has just published a catalogue with cases of data-driven operations from Denmark’s district heating sector.
With this compilation, we try to show how the extensive use of data insights across the value chain may boost initiatives for sector coupling and efficient energy operations in other countries. With 18 tangible examples of how this is done, the new catalogue underlines the continuously untapped opportunity for technology to unlock efficiency and productivity in the twin transition.
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