Storage Concepts for Solar District Heating and Cooling Systems
Abstract
In Europe, the building sector is responsible for 40% of the primary energy consumption. Most of the energy is thermal energy consumed for heating, cooling and hot water preparation and comes directly or indirectly from the use of fossil fuels as oil, natural gas and coal. As is it known, these energy sources have two important problems: scarcity in the next years, which would increase the economic costs, and the generation of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere that are directly related with global warming and climate change. Rosen (2009) demonstrates that non-fossil fuel energy options are needed to help combat climate change and today some renewable energy technologies are a good and economical competitive alternative to the traditional ones. As a consequence of all the facts mentioned above, the governments are approving new regulations to reduce the use of fossil fuels by energy efficiency and by the use of renewable energy sources as solar energy.