Energy recovery: an ideal supplement to renewable energy in the energy transition
Different business activities require the production of vast quantities of energy which is then often wasted. According to the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), 109.5 terawatt hours (TWh) of heat are discarded by the industrial sector. This represents 36% of its fuel consumption. Recovering this heat is a challenge that cannot be ignored. Recovered energy can be the perfect supplement to renewable energy. Discover its future potential.
Energy recovery, a lever for efficient energy transition
Energy recovery development is an exciting solution for supplementing renewable energy production.
What is energy recovery?
Energy recovery focuses on energy generated by activities whose main objective is not energy production. For example, many industrial processes use furnaces to produce this recoverable energy, which is often discarded and lost. According to ADEME, this loss amounts to 52.9 TWh at over 100 °C within industry.
Energy recovery reuses this energy as a source of heat or in particular a source of electricity production. Various energy recovery sources exist. In fact, they offer great potential for accelerating economic decarbonisation.
Good to know: What is economic decarbonisation?
This term refers to all the measures taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These extremely polluting gases are mainly generated by the human use of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal). These measures to reduce the carbon footprint can be set by a company, a business sector, or even a government.
The limits of renewable energy
● The strength and consistency of the wind for wind energy.
● The extent and duration of sunshine for solar energy.
● Regular rainfall for hydropower.
These energy sources are inadequate for our daily consumption habits. In 2022, fossil fuels accounted for almost 82% of main energy consumption (energy available without transformation) worldwide. To accelerate economic decarbonisation and energy transition it is essential to develop solutions that supplement renewable energy.
Energy recovery can be an option. It enables available energy resources to be used more efficiently and sustainably.
Waste heat, an energy source offering valuable savings
Waste heat is generated by industrial processes and equipment whose main function is not energy production. It occurs in many areas :
● Numerous industrial sectors, in particular the steel industry with its furnaces.
● Recovery of household waste.
● Computer servers in data centres.
The heat produced is often discarded as hot air, smoke, fumes, etc. It can easily be captured and reused by installing a heat exchanger or a heat pump. Once recovered, the heat can be transferred elsewhere.
This waste heat can be used internally, by the company, or redistributed externally. It has a wide range of uses:
● Heating the site or creating an area heating network to heat surrounding buildings.
● Supplying a hot water system.
● Production of green electricity.
Developing energy recovery to reuse waste heat offers several advantages by:
● Combating energy waste by recovering lost energy.
● Reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
● Promoting access to cheaper energy compared with fossil fuels.
These benefits explain the increasingly frequent use of the term renewable and recovered energy (R&RE). According to ADEME, there are around 16.7 TWh of waste heat close to existing heating networks at temperatures above 60°C .
This figure demonstrates the extremely high, as yet untapped potential of waste heat in France.
Good to know: A greener city thanks to energy recovery!
O-I Glass and Dalkia in Reims have created a system to recover heat from their industrial site. It produces around 15 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy a year, which feeds into the district heating network. This avoids the discarding of 2,630 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. That’s the equivalent of taking 1,300 cars off the road each year!
Kinetic energy, another energy source to be developed
Vehicle kinetic energy
To activate it you have to take your foot off the accelerator. This simple movement causes deceleration, which automatically triggers braking. The electrical energy created by stopping the wheels going around is recovered and stored in the vehicle’s battery. It is used the next time the car is started.
Kinetic energy can be used for other forms of transport. It can be transformed into electricity and fed back into the grid for trams or trains.
Electricity produced by pedestrians
In 2014, the British company Pavegen installed 14 tiles in front of Saint-Omer station. Unknowingly, 5,000 daily travelers power LED lighting and USB recharging ports. With each step the tiles sink a few millimetres into the ground, producing up to 7 watts of electricity. A single step generates enough energy to run an LED light for several seconds. The energy required to operate the station’s LED lights is entirely generated by travelers’ footsteps.
Widespread use of these tiles in high-traffic areas could enable them to become energy self-sufficient.
Energy recovery is on the rise in France and there is considerable potential to be exploited. This is evident in the 44,945 French buildings connected to a heating network using renewable or recovered energy in 2021. This is a real opportunity to seize, both to decarbonise your business and promote energy transition.
2. The potential for developing energy recovery is enormous.
3. Waste heat, kinetic energy... there are many different sources of recovered energy.
