Opportunities and challenges for waste heat in energy systems - from sustainable cooling to heat recovery.

This paper tracks a research journey over a number of years from sustainable cooling to heat recovery. It includes an investigation of the decarbonisation of heating and cooling by working across commercial boundaries as part of a smart energy system. Many cooling applications exist close to a demand for heat and by sharing energy between applications can deliver near zero carbon heating and cooling in a cost effective way. The paper describes the evolution of research at London South Bank University in sustainable cooling and heating. It starts with describing the challenges associated with decarbonisation of the UK energy system and then links this with the need to develop more sustainable cooling concepts. Research carried out on sustainable cooling of London Underground is described including the challenges associated with heat exchange, followed by the evolution of a heat recovery scheme for connection to the Bunhill Heat Network which bivalently cooled the Tube and delivered heating to local housing. The paper then describes the development of smart local energy systems, using a case study called GreenSCIES which integrates heating and cooling with mobility (Electric Vehicles) and power to create a smart local energy system. Wider opportunities for integration of heating and cooling are then described with some specific case studies. The paper concludes by looking ahead to future policy opportunities