# The Role of Low Temperature Waste Heat Recovery in Achieving 2050 Goals: A Policy Positioning Paper
## 3 Results
### Capacity Building  
Low temperature waste heat recovery is a young technology and its prevalence is low. Currently, there are a number of barriers and government intervention may be required to break them down. Whilst few measures are in place targeting waste heat recovery specifically, there are proven government measures that can help in the context of low temperature district heating. Examples are direct incentives such as tax breaks and investment subsidies. Other measures directly targeting urban waste heat sources are either voluntary, such as pilot projects, or mandatory, such as obligations to make use of urban waste heat whenever generated. Implementation of urban waste heat recovery is, at present, predominantly undertaken in the form of pilot studies. In an ongoing project for the International Energy Agency, more than 150 low temperature heat recovery pilot sites have been identified [35]. The advantage of pilot sites is that they provide data on operations and risk which act as important inputs for potential investors. The prevalence of pilot sites indicates that the urban waste heat recovery solution is increasingly relevant and the fact that they are appearing in multiple places simultaneously indicates that there is an emerging technology shift in the DH industry. The European Commission is directly funding two large projects on low temperature heat recovery, with a total of 12 demonstrator sites across Europe (for more information please consult the ReUseHeat [36] and REWARDHeat [37] projects). Limits on greenhouse gas emissions by regulation would benefit urban waste heat recovery technology. Such regulation can be directly linked to taxes aimed at the phasing out of fossil fuels. Examples of both exist, as discussed in the policy overview above (the EU-ETS system) along with energy carbon taxes. In such a context, it is important to note that there may be social aspects to consider when making planning decisions. For example, the cost of decarbonisation should not disproportionately be borne by the poorest in society. In some cases, governments may see measures as opportunities to achieve social aims by, for example, building infrastructure to provide cheaper heat, paid for with taxation (a dominant tradition in both Sweden and Denmark). To secure desirable and long term development in the DH industry, support for capacity building in urban waste heat recovery is needed. The stakeholder analysis outlined in the methodology section highlighted the need for capacity building and knowledge sharing. Stakeholders were generally very supportive of pilot projects citing a need for guidance on good practice and sharing of experience to allow a future scaleup. A lack of technical knowledge was not generally seen as a problem, however. Respondents showed interest in collaborations between academia, private companies and politicians suggesting that \"More research studies in our universities and more interaction between the science and the city are needed\". Another theme coming from the stakeholder analysis is that, when stakeholders such as city representatives and owners of heat are new to waste heat recovery, there is a hurdle in that the number of stakeholders makes contract negotiations complex. All interviewees pointed out that there is no legal framework in place to manage urban waste heat sources/make efficient contracts that responds to all specific issues of this type. The diversity, size and technology of DH systems within the basic system of source, heat exchanger, heat pump and network, means that expert judgement is required. It may be that the main client, such as a city, may not have the necessary skill base, nor any long term experience in DH. Consultants provide a solution, either as advisors or embedded in a developer/contractor. Complexities include multiple sources, somewhat different technologies related to the source, but also new \"smart\" metering, district level control systems and modern heat storage.