District heating systems in hard competition

This article presents a review of various contributions presented at a conference of the Swiss association of district heating systems professionals. District heating systems are discussed that form the backbones of systems that distribute heat generated using renewable energy resources such as refuse incineration, waste heat and geothermal energy as well as from thermal power stations and combined heat and power units. Marketing topics, climate protection and, in particular, the proposed carbon dioxide levy are dealt with in the contributions. Details of the CO2 legislation are discussed and various details that concern district heating are examined. As an example, the successful district heating system in Riehen, Switzerland, is described