Housing and communal services: Innovative processes

In a previous review dedicated to heating systems in the northern countries, we examined the experience of Sweden. Here we will talk about Denmark and Great Britain, where also its own specifics. Now in both countries the development of new technologies is actively underway that would reduce fuel costs and increase the efficiency of heating circuits. There is also a tendency to centralize heating in countries where it had practically no before. This is due to the fact that now, in view of new priorities and technologies, such a model seems more profitable for both state instances and directly for citizens.

In Denmark, the central heating system is a product of long-term planning-the process that began in the 1970s, during an oil crisis, accompanied by a strong instability of oil prices. Approximately at the same time and for the same reason, similar processes began in Sweden. In both cases, the task was to reduce the need for oil and gas products, replacing them with alternatives, as cheaper and environmentally friendly as possible. As a result, Denmark was to date of one of the advanced countries in the production of energy from renewable sources.

Now in Denmark there are several heating circuits. One of the most effective models is the combined production of thermal and electricity. A conventional power station for electricity generation uses about 40% of the fuel, and the rest is thrown out in the form of thermal energy. At combined stations, 50% of this release does not go to the environment, but is distributed over the heating network. Initially, these stations mainly worked on fuel, but now other energy sources are increasingly used. For electricity, windmills were popular, but at combined stations this method is ineffective. Methods such as geothermic pumps, solar energy and biomass burning are much more popular. These technologies are used both at combined stations and for specialized heating systems. In addition to the actual provision of the population with heat, Denmark now also began to export equipment for the combined production of electricity and heat.

One of the most promising energy technologies in Denmark is now considered the processing of solar energy in thermal. The authorities who set themselves the goal of switching to 2050 to complete independence from non -renewable fuel are made on this. Now in the country, old heating systems are gradually replaced by factories for the processing of solar energy. These plants are equipped with heat storage facilities. In the summer, when the sun is more, energy is collected and saved for the winter - according to the same principle by which historically people stocked the ice for the summer in winter.

In the UK , traditionally more relied on individual heating of the premises, there is also a tendency to centralize heating. Partially, this process coincides with the transition to combined stations acting on the same principle as in Denmark. Nevertheless, heating networks in the country so far provide less than 10% of the total population needs for heating. The British Ministry of Energy has announced that the introduction of more large -scale central heating networks is priority. Currently, planning how these networks are arranged geographically. In some cases, the problem is the low population density, which makes central heating ineffective. Typically, information about the progress of planning is presented on the network in the public domain. This is partly done in line with the general rhetoric of state openness, but the main audience of such information documents, including interactive maps, are local administrative authorities, from which the centralization of heating is expected.

To support local administrations in the Ministry of Energy, a special unit was formed, engaged in heating networks and working directly with municipalities. Also, special subsidies are allocated to municipalities for the development of heating systems twice over the financial year. At the same time, there is an active financing of technological developments for environmentally friendly energy production. Finally, since central heating in many areas of the United Kingdom is a new phenomenon, a detailed educational work is underway, designed to explain the advantages of such a system.

Russia, as one of the countries where the heating problem is also urgent in the northern regions, is a special case. On the one hand, the central heating system has existed for a long time, and its functioning has been debugged. On the other hand, many heating schemes are already becoming obsolete as resource -intensive, ineffective and expensive. In this sense, new developments are needed that would optimize the production and distribution of heat. Another problem is that existing systems regularly require major repairs to remain in working condition. Both tasks are equally important, since the issue of the preparedness of the heating system for the coming season is no less relevant than the optimization problem.

In a previous review, we referred to the experience of the Murmansk region as one of the indicative examples of the situation in the Russian northern regions. In the field of housing and communal services, and in particular, in connection with heating, management now has to solve both problems - both direct (preparation for the next winter) and long -term (optimization and modernization of the entire system). The work is carried out in both directions. As for the preparation of objects for the upcoming heating season, control over this process is carried out at the highest regional level. The acting governor of the region Marina Kovtun personally visits objects, primarily the most unstable, as the previous experience showed, and with the help of experts evaluates the work carried out on them. So, during a trip to ZAO ZAOZERSK , where the boiler room is in the process of transferring from the Ministry of Defense to the local authorities, the latter received an order to determine a single heat supply company, to work with the boiler room, in order to establish mutual understanding between the management company and employees, as well as establish optimal tariffs for thermal energy.

The specificity here is that the regional regions have recently passed the process of transferring housing and communal services to the Ministry of Defense to the municipal authorities. This means that the work risks due to changes to be unstable. However, due to the fact that the Ministry of Defense is open to cooperation, this risk can be reduced. “Acceptance and transfer of objects is not a simple process,” Kovtun emphasized. - We have found a good model of relationships from the Ministry of Defense, we work in constructive interaction, very painstakingly over the transfer of each object. In all these processes, the main thing for us is the interests of the inhabitants, but. These are long processes, but you can’t move on without a solution. ”

In parallel with this, work is underway to modernize the regional energy as a whole. At the moment, this agenda is under development. Development is carried out in cooperation between the regional authorities and energy companies. Among other things, the project "gradual transfer of central heat supply systems from a single boiler room to individual modular electric coils for multi -apartment residential buildings" is considered. Small pilot experiments showed that such a system can be effective. There are also plans to get out of fuel oil dependence. Most boiler houses work on fuel oil, and this is much more expensive than, for example, the same using electricity. Thus, the regional authorities intend to invest in the maintenance of boilers , development and experiments on optimizing housing and communal services.