Investing in the recycling of waste energy as a renewable energy source

What are heat and fatal energy?

Underexploited, waste energy represents a major renewable energy source that can be recycled for various uses. Recycling waste energy transforms it into usable heat or electricity, thereby optimizing energy resources. For the building industry, recycling waste energy and/or having heating systems thanks to the latter, offers a green, regulatory alternative (which meets sustainable development objectives) and is a solution which is often economical.

Fatal energy can concern electricity, gas, heat, cold. In this article, to talk about fatal energy, we will take the example of fatal heat.

Why will waste heat be increasingly valued in the building sector?

Because it makes it possible to meet the sustainable development objectives to which States are subject

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mainly include SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), aimed at ensuring access for all to reliable, sustainable and modern energy services at an affordable cost, and the SDG 13 (action on climate change), which encourages urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. These goals support energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Because it can decarbonize the building sector

The building sector is directly affected by several Sustainable Development Goals, particularly with regard to energy efficiency, the sustainable use of resources, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

More recently with the 2024 European elections, the key issues to accelerate the energy transition are once again highlighted with several objectives to achieve:

• Climate targets for 2030: Reduction of EU greenhouse gas emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030.
• Energy efficiency efforts: The EU targets a reduction in final energy consumption of at least 11,7% compared to projections for 2030.
• Accelerating the adoption of renewable energy: To significantly contribute to the reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
• The 8th Environmental Action Program (EAP): It will guide European environmental policy until 2030.
• Zero Pollution Action Plan and EU Biodiversity Strategy: Objectives to protect our ecosystems.
• Action plan for the circular economy: EU commitments for sustainable resource management.

For the building sector, the regulation in force is RE2020. It replaces the previous thermal regulation, RT2012, and emphasizes several new aspects in addition to energy efficiency.

Here are some of the key requirements of RE2020:

• Energy performance: RE2020 continues to require buildings to be energy efficient, but with stricter standards than RT2012. It encourages the use of renewable energies.
• Carbon footprint: One of the main additions of RE2020 is the consideration of the carbon footprint over the entire life cycle of the building, from construction to demolition. This includes building materials, their transportation, construction, use, and the end of the building's life.
• Comfort in summer: RE2020 introduces requirements for summer thermal comfort without air conditioning, to limit overheating in new buildings during heat waves.
• Adaptation to climate change: The regulations take into account the need to adapt buildings to climate change, taking into account regional variations.

For future developments, the strengthening of new measures is to be expected around the following subjects:

• Strengthening renewable energy requirements for new and existing buildings.
• Initiatives for the energy renovation of existing buildings, to reduce their energy consumption and their carbon footprint.
• Incorporation of standards for the circular economy in construction, encouraging the recycling and reuse of materials.
• Stricter standards for occupant comfort and health, including indoor air quality and access to natural light.

The use of waste energy in the building sector

In the building sector, waste energy finds concrete applications such as the recovery of heat released by refrigeration systems to heat water or spaces, or the use of heat emitted by electronic equipment in offices to help heat the building.

Beyond refrigeration systems and electronic equipment, another notable source of wasteful energy resides in data centers. The recovery of heat from data centers to heat collective housing is an innovative application which makes it possible to exploit an often considerable and constant source of heat. This approach not only optimizes the use of waste energy but also contributes to the energy transition of cities by integrating sustainable solutions into urban architecture.

Projects using heat recovery from data centers to heat collective housing have already been implemented. For example, in Saint-Denis, the Equinix data center will provide heat for the new Plaine Saulnier district, in particular its aquatic center which will host the diving, artistic swimming and waterpolo events during the 2024 Olympic Games. system will power the SMIREC heating network, serving the equivalent of 60.500 homes with 75% renewable energy for the ZAC Saulnier (ENGIE Solutions).

Other initiatives in Europe illustrate this trend. For example, Meta (Facebook) uses excess heat from its data center in Odense, Denmark, to heat around 11.000 homes. In Finland, Ireland and Denmark, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft have also connected or announce plans to connect their main data centers to district heating systems.

While the direct use of a data center for heating can vary depending on several factors, such as the location of the project, proximity to a data center willing to collaborate, as well as regulatory and financial aspects, there is today today a new solution with the same benefits without having to worry about these factors…

What technologies exist to recover and convert waste energy into usable energy?

A recent innovation offers a promising solution to reuse this underutilized energy. This is the digital radiator, an innovative heating device designed to convert heat rejected by data centers (known as waste heat) into a renewable source of heating for buildings. This technology not only reduces the energy consumption of buildings, it also contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions from digital infrastructures. Thus, it provides a concrete response to current climate challenges and current environmental standards, in particular RE2020.

The digital radiator heats not thanks to conventional resistors, but thanks to calculation cards whose process releases a large quantity of heat. This calculation, traditionally carried out in data centers, is here decentralized to use the heat for useful purposes, allowing on the one hand to recover the lost heat (fatal heat) from the data centers (thus reducing digital pollution), and on the other hand on the other hand to heat our homes with an efficient system which promises optimal heating comfort and savings on heating bills.

Conclusion

By examining the different aspects and possibilities of recycling waste energy, it became clear the capital importance of this often underestimated resource in the context of the energy transition. Wasteful energy, a silent witness to the energy inefficiencies of our societies, represents an invaluable opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint while optimizing operational costs and energy consumption.

Investing in the recycling of waste energy is not only an economic opportunity, but a collective responsibility. Building professionals, investors and decision-makers are invited to recognize this resource and integrate waste energy recycling solutions into their future projects. By showing innovation and will, we can all contribute to a more sustainable future.

Tribune by Alexandre Vinot, co-founder of hestiia (LinkedIn).