Composting Heat Recovery for Residential Consumption: An Assessment of Viability

The European heating sector is currently heavily dominated by fossil fuels. Composting is a naturally occurring process in which heat is liberated from the composting substrate at a higher rate than the process needs to support itself. This difference could be harnessed for low-heat applications such as residential consumption, alleviating some of the impacts fossil fuel emissions represent. In this study, the composting heat recovery reported in the literature was compared to the energy demand for space and water heating in four European countries. A review of potential heat production from the waste representative of the residential sector was performed. We found that the theoretically recoverable composting heat does not significantly reduce the need for district heating. However, it can significantly reduce the energy demand for water heating, being able to supply countries such as Greece with between 36% and 100% of the yearly hot water demand, or 12% to 53% of the yearly hot water of countries such as Switzerland, depending on the efficiency of heat recovery.

Automated summary

The European heating sector heavily relies on fossil fuels. Composting heat, which is released at a higher rate than needed, could be utilized for low-heat applications like residential water heating, reducing the impact of fossil fuel emissions. This study compared composting heat recovery with energy demand for space and water heating in four European countries and found that it significantly reduces energy demand for water heating, being able to satisfy 36% to 100% of Greece's yearly hot water demand or 12% to 53% of Switzerland's yearly hot water demand, depending on heat recovery efficiency.