Mapping our wasted heat

Have you ever thought about all the wasted heat that's released into our atmosphere from large factories and power stations?. Engineering students and researchers at our Durham Energy Institute have, and they've highlighted the large amount of waste heat and potential ways of using it to heat our homes. Nationally, the total amount of waste heat produced by large industries is 35 per cent more than the heat needed to warm our homes, so the new research has mapped out just how much of this heat there is and where it is. Large industries The study focussed on large industries that are mainly powered by natural gas and used process efficiencies and natural gas consumption to determine the amount of waste heat produced. This data was then mapped according to Local Authority Area to approximate the distribution of waste heat across the UK. The map is compared to population density to determine if available waste heat can be reused in domestic heating. Waste heat production The amount of heat available depends upon different factors, for example the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic is likely to result in less activity by large industries, so less gas will be used to produce heat.