A new era of energy: district heating and cooling that uses CO2 – The closed-loop system distributes heat from renewable sources

Spotted: Almost 25 per cent of the energy produced worldwide is used to heat and cool homes and commercial buildings. And the process of generating this energy is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. District heating and cooling systems are one potential solution. These generate heat centrally and distribute it across a network of buildings in the same neighbourhood, which is more efficient than heating or cooling buildings individually. Usually, such systems use water to transfer heat, but now, Swiss cleantech startup ExerGo is using CO2 as an energy transfer fluid for its closed-loop system.

By: Lisa Magloff