District heating goes new ways

This article reviews the papers presented at the first of a series of conferences on the topic of district heating that was held in Zurich, Switzerland at the beginning of 2002. The article summarises the contributions presented at the conference, which was dedicated to district heating strategies. The role of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy is discussed and the extent of district heating use in Switzerland is compared with the situation in other countries, e.g. Denmark. Sociological and economical aspects of district heating projects are discussed and the important role played by district heating in the reduction of CO2 emissions is looked at. The various district heating networks to be found in the city of Zurich are briefly described and future heat-generation options, including biomass and fuel-cell-based combined heat and power installations are discussed. A wood-fired system in Porrentruy, Switzerland, is presented as an example of a biomass-based district heating system