Among the energy-saving options, two promising technology switches are the electrification of transportation (electric vehicles can be about four times as energy-efficient as standard fossil-fuel vehicles) and the use of electric-powered heat pumps to deliver winter heating and hot water (heat pumps can be four times as energy-efficient as standard heaters).
The 59-acre (24 hectare) site will also boast a solar thermal hot water system to pre-heat the water for the heating system, and a biomass boiler that will provide heat using locally-sourced wood chips.
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In some instances, microCHP systems have attempted to use waste heat for residential space heating.
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In-floor electric heat mats provide backup heating when there is not enough sunshine.
Much of the avoided energy consumption will come from the switch to carbon-neutral district heating (rural households will switch from oil, natural gas, and electric heating to heat pumps and biomass burners).
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Then by motorcade it's off to Aavid, a worldwide maker of heat sinks used to cool off heating units on appliances.
"So the air conditioning is trying to cool the room, while the heating is trying to heat it up, " Mr Tibble observes.
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Micro-CHP encompasses a spectrum of energy technologies that produce heat (which can be used for space heating and hot water) and electric power simultaneously.
By sucking 55-degree heat out of the ground and concentrating it, the heat pump is able to deliver 110-degree heat into the warm air ducts of a central heating system.
Combined heat and power (CHP) and district-heating systems delivered a whopping 36, 392 tons of avoided carbon emissions in 2010, which accounted for 50% of all carbon emissions reductions, according to an analysis released last week by the Greater London Authority (GLA).
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If you are living on means tested benefits AND you live in the hardest-to-heat homes you may be eligible for a free new central heating boiler, insulation for a hot water cylinder, loft, cavity wall and solid wall insulation, draught proofing for doors and windows or renewable energy technologies such as solar panels.
Supermarket giant Tesco has recently been given a green light to build Britain's first ever straw-powered Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant to meet the electricity and heating needs of one of its distribution centres.
Rather than letting the heat escape, a cogeneration plant uses the excess energy to power a heating and cooling system.
Meanwhile central heating is sometimes wasted on the whole house when you only need heat a room.
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Inventables' most recent shipment included a self-heating can that contains calcium oxide and water, which mix and heat up when users press a button on the can.
Households with oil-fired central heating, and those using solid fuel or liquid petroleum gas to heat their homes, are much more likely to be in fuel poverty than "on-grid" households.
The real world range has also been improved with the introduction of a new heating system which is 70 per cent more efficient through the use of a heat pump in the system.
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In icy Tomsk, the potential for heat loss is even worse: astonishingly, the pipes that carry warm water around the district heating network of Seversk and Tomsk are completely uninsulated.
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