Rolling out further Combined Heat and Power systems.
But should the council be promoting the model at Cranbrook?
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Earlier this month, the Science Festival arranged a trip to the District Heating system at Cranbrook:
Visit to Cranbrook Energy Centre
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The principle is certainly attractive:
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District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location
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And can even involve incineration, which is not popular in the UK, but seems to work in Vienna:
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The Spittelau incineration plant is one of several plants that provide district heating in Vienna.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating
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And if it involves a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system, then it seems even more attractive – as with this video from E.ON:
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What is Combined Heat and Power (CHP)? | youtube.com
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E.ON also runs the CHP system at Cranbrook:
And the District Council would like to roll more out:
Order aims to speed up East Devon’s District Heating Networks | devonlive.com
Green Dream, Monopolist’s Dream or just a Nightmare? | eastdevonwatch.org
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The only problem is that the CHP system at Cranbrook has a certain ‘history’ – as considered on these news pages last July:
Cranbrook residents locked into district heating system
And on the Devon Live pages:
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It was an issue three years ago when the Futures Forum looked at it:
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District heating is locking Cranbrook residents into ‘a costly scheme who have no right to switch’
energy centre district heating network – Exeter and East Devon Growth Point
Futures Forum: The Role of District Heating in our Future… Exeter & East Devon Low Carbon Task Force to address Transition Exeter meeting…It can even end up giving you a carbon-neutral system:
Cranbrook District Heating | Engineering | University of Exeter
Futures Forum: District heating systems run on waste… from ScandanaviaIt can even make you some money:
Futures Forum: Local energy can be very profitable: “Seizing the opportunity of decentralised energy generation can provide new income streams for communities and councils.”The only problem is that it might not be you that’s making the money:
The East Devon Watch blog has been warning us about this for some time now:
District heating (as supplied in Cranbrook) heavily criticised by Which | East Devon Watch (April 2015)
Cranbrook: what can happen when you are tied to one district heating energy supplier | East Devon Watch (July 2016)
The EDW picked this piece up from today’s Observer:
Cranbrook’s district heating system under fire – no switching allowed and developers get a cut for 80 year contract | East Devon Watch
Energy customers locked into a costly scheme who have no right to switch | Money | The Guardian
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