Energy Integration within Sectors to improve the Efficiency of Renewable Energy System within the EU

Abstract

To achieve the goal of a carbon-neutral EU by 2050 and accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy system, synergies need to be achieved between renewable energy production, energy efficiency improvement, technology development and widespread electrification. This work presents a synthesis of sustainable renewable energy supply networks to achieve the transition to a 100 % renewable energy system in the EU by 2050, focusing on heat and power end users in various sectors to achieve more synergies between sectors and thus increase the overall efficiency of the energy system. The generation and supply of renewable electricity, heat, first, second and third generation biofuel, hydrogen and bioproducts from different renewable energy sources are considered together with storage technologies. A dynamic mixed-integer linear programming model is formulated with the maximization of the composite criterion Sustainability Net Present Value as the objective, optimizing all sustainability pillars simultaneously. The results show the impact of electrifying the residential sector, services and transport sector to accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy future. Heat pumps powered by renewable electricity seems to be a key technology for meeting heating demand in residential and service sector, accounting for 55 % and 61 % of final consumption. The results also reveal the role of biomass cogeneration systems, whose heat recovery could meet 33 % of the heat demand from renewable energy sources in the residential sector and 28 % in the services. The share of electricity in final energy consumption in the transport sector is projected to reach 52 %. The residential, services and transport sectors together are expected to almost double the current electricity demand by 2050.