---
title: "Harnessing waste heat could save €67-billion for Europe"
description: "Industries and transportation systems in Europe waste so much heat that capturing the excess and reusing it could save consumers more than €67-billion, a Danish engineering company said."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Business Maverick"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-22-harnessing-waste-heat-could-save-e67-billion-for-europe/"
published: "2023-02-22T06:06:36"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 328
---

# Harnessing waste heat could save €67-billion for Europe

> Industries and transportation systems in Europe waste so much heat that capturing the excess and reusing it could save consumers more than €67-billion, a Danish engineering company said.

By Bloomberg · Published 22 February 2023, 08:06 SAST

## Key points
- Danfoss Energy has revealed a massive untapped source of energy - 2,860 terawatt-hours of surplus heat produced annually from factories, supermarkets, wastewater facilities and data centres. This excess supply is enough to meet the EU’s total demand for residential and service-sector heating and hot water. Reusing this heat could save billions annually by 2050 and reduce reliance on oil, gas or coal. District heat networks are already being implemented in many European cities such as Stockholm and Essen. Germany has even drafted legislation requiring data centres to reuse 30% of their excess heat. However, decarbonising Europe's heavily gas-reliant heating systems will be a major challenge as older housing stock is particularly draughty.
- 2,860 terawatt-hours of surplus energy is produced each year by factories, supermarkets, wastewater facilities, data centres and subways.
- Utilising this excess heat could help the European Union transition to carbon neutrality.
- District heat networks are part of urban planning across Europe, with almost 90% of Stockholm’s buildings connected to a heating and cooling grid.
- Decarbonisation of heating in Europe and the UK will be a major challenge as the continent’s systems remain heavily reliant on gas.

## Content

The surplus produced each year by factories, supermarkets, wastewater facilities, data centres and subways amounts to 2,860 terawatt-hours, nearly the same as the European Union’s total demand for heat and hot water in residential and service-sector buildings, Danfoss Energy said.

The excess supply is “the world’s largest untapped source of energy,” the chief executive officer said.

Boosting energy efficiency is viewed as essential for the bloc in coming years to assure a more secure – and more green – energy network. Utilising waste heat would help with the transition to carbon neutrality since the process doesn’t require burning new oil, gas or coal.

“It’s not energy we need to produce; it’s energy we need to reuse,” CEO Kim Fausing said in an interview. “It can be done with technology we have on the shelf already today.”

Using excess heat in combination with other efforts to reach net zero could save €67.4-billion (R1.311-trillion) annually by 2050, according to the research by closely held Danfoss, which produces heating and ventilation systems. In urban environments, the surplus would be transferred into a district network to warm a central water source for heating nearby buildings.

An analysis of individual cities by Danfoss found that Greater London’s heat waste amounts to 9.5 terawatt-hours per year – enough to warm 790,000 households if recaptured. Berlin’s total is 4.8 terawatt-hours.

Meanwhile, 50 sites in the industrial city of Essen, Germany, generate enough waste energy to serve half of its domestic dwellings. In the Netherlands, the excess heat supply would be greater than the total demand nationally.

District heat networks are part of urban planning across Europe, with almost 90% of Stockholm’s buildings connected to a heating and cooling grid. Germany has [drafted legislation mandating that data centres reuse](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-14/germany-wants-to-reuse-data-centers-heat-no-one-is-buying-it)30% of their excess heat.

Still, decarbonisation of heating in Europe and the UK, where the older housing stock is especially draughty, will be a major challenge as the continent’s systems remain heavily reliant on gas. **BM/DM**