Modernisation of the existing energy supply system to CO2 neutral system: Lithuanian town case study

Abstract

The main principle of the sustainable planning is to achieve the maximum effect with the lowest cost. Generally district heating is the main heat supply system in the countries of northern climate. In most cases it is an old and worn out system, which should be modernized. Currently, this system has a great potential for energy savings. It is clear that in order to achieve ambitious environmental energy efficiency goals, local renewable energy resources should be integrated. However one of the main problems is the evaluation which heat supply alternative (centralised or decentralised) is better. This work aims to evaluate the integration of renewable energy resources in existing small district heating system by using known environmental methods. The results showed that district heating in combination with renewables (biomass and solar energy) is the most environmentally friendly solution for heat supply. The implementation of those measures enables to reach nearly zero CO2 emission. The analysis in terms of 3E multicriteria allows to involve other indicators (energy and economic) in overall decision-making process. This evaluation proved the effectiveness of district heating system with solar collectors and economiser, realising the modernisation of buildings.