Thermal energy mapping for the decarbonization of building heating systems

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For Canadian communities to achieve their local net-zero GHG emission goals, the use of fossil fuels for indoor space heating of buildings needs to be replaced with viable carbon-free alternatives. Decarbonized heat sources located within communities are required for efficient resource use and resiliency, with residual (waste) heat, rooftop-solar, organic waste sourced biofuels, hydrogen, geothermal-exchange, and air source being some of the most common. While commercial technology advancements have been made in utilizing these local sources, resource availability relative to local heating requirements has not been well characterized. Local thermal resource mapping is an essential scientific capacity for utility and government energy infrastructure planning and decision-making, such as peak capacity requirements. This is critical for quantifying time varying supply and demand miss-matches, exemplified by the prevalent combination of solar PV and air-source heat pumps. Thermal mapping is also critical for planning interconnections with other sectors, such as decarbonizing of the electricity grid and the electrification of vehicles. The selection of decarbonized heating options drives energy resiliency considerations to major weather event disruption, such as the capacity of local thermal networks and electrical microgrids to self-power. This interdisciplinary project aims to develop an open access carbon-free heating resources mapping tool, to improve government decision-making regarding socio-economic selection across all decarbonized heating options. To ensure the mapping tool achieves high impact on informing decarbonization decision making, community partners from Burlington, Hamilton and Halton Hills will co-develop the tool, assist with data collection to populate the map, and provide feedback on its effectiveness to guild local decarbonization implementation strategies. Once validated with local partners, the research results will be mobilized by making the thermal mapping tool available to all communities and municipalities across Canada, to establish standardized decarbonized heating identification and planning processes that can be used in the implementation of their Climate Action Plans to achieve net-zero.