Low-carbon heating in France : warming up to District Heating

By JJB

"District Heating" is a technology allowing several large buildings, neighbourhoods or even entire cities to share common heat sources, which produce heat centrally and then deliver it to each individual home through dedicated heat networks. While the general public may sometimes associate district heating more with Scandinavian, Central- or Eastern European countries, France is also "warming up" to this technology.

Indeed, France's district heating systems have seen an increased share of renewable heat production in recent years, and the government is looking to expand the use of low-carbon district heating even further (the goal being a 5-fold increase by 2030, compared to 2012 levels). According to a recent study, this would also enable the country to tap into local resources in order to create local employment, while also protecting consumers from price fluctuations.

A commented article can be found here. The full detailed paper can be downloaded here ; even though it is written in French, the authors can also be contacted in English in case of any questions.