AEA maps opportunities for decentralised energy

A new “UK industrial heat map” has been created by AEA, on behalf of the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc). The map highlights opportunities for the application of decentralised energy and "has been developed as a successor to the original tool aimed at assisting power station developers consider the opportunities for combined heat and power (CHP) as required under planning policy,” explains AEA. The updated map will be of potential use to organisations of all sizes to help them identify locations where CHP, renewable heat plant, and district heating systems would have the “greatest technical and economic potential”, says AEA. Emphasising the map's practical uses, AEA chief consultant on CHP, Mahmoud Abu-Ebid, said: “The search facility returns a high level of detail identifying the heat demand within the search area, which can be varied from 1 km² up to 100 km². The heat demand can also be separated by sector, with large users highlighted on an individual basis”.