Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 7051: Environmental Comparison of Energy Solutions for Heating and Cooling (Sustainability)

Humanity faces several environmental challenges today. The planet has limited resources, and it is necessary to use these resources effectively. This paper examines the environmental impact of three energy solutions for the heating and cooling of buildings. The solutions are conventional district heating and cooling, a smart energy solution for heating and cooling (ectogrid™), and geothermal energy. The ectogrid™ balances energy flows with higher and lower temperatures to reduce the need for supplied energy. The three solutions have been studied for Medicon Village, which is a district in the city of Lund in Sweden. The study shows that the energy use for the conventional system is 12,250 MWh for one year, and emissions are 590 tons of CO2 equivalents. With ectogrid™, the energy use is reduced by 61%, and the emissions are reduced by 12%, compared to the conventional system. With geothermal energy, the energy use is reduced by 70%, and the emissions by 20%. An analysis is also made in a European context, with heating based on natural gas and cooling based on air conditioners. The study shows that the environmental impact would decrease considerably by replacing the carbon dioxide intensive solution with ectogrid™ or geothermal energy.