Open AccessDistrict Heating in the UK: Prospects for a Third National Programme
Author(s) -
David Hawkey
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
science and technology studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2243-4690
DOI - 10.23987/sts.55315
Subject(s) - electricity , vision , government (linguistics) , energy policy , dependency (uml) , energy security , business , corporate governance , environmental economics , economic system , political science , economics , renewable energy , engineering , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , systems engineering , finance , anthropology , electrical engineering
The UK has seen periodic attempts to develop large district heating (DH) networks to make use of residual heat from industry and power generation. Under concerns about climate change and energy security, DH has recently re-emerged in policy visions for future heat systems with small decentralised combined heat and power (CHP) generators playing a key role in the establishment of such networks. This paper draws on Stewart Russell’s accounts of earlier DH programmes, asking to what extent the reasons he concluded CHP and DH were systematically excluded continue to marginalise the technologies. In spite of governance changes which ostensibly open new opportunities for experimentation, key structural issues challenge the development of decentralised energy, particularly the alignment of the electricity sector to a centralised system and the dependency of local governments with limited capacity on central government. The reluctance of central government to engage in system planning and the failure to integrate policies related to energy production and energy consumption limit the eff ectiveness of support for DH.