One of the major aims of the IEAs activities was and still is to reduce the vulnerability of member countries to the interruption of imported energy supplies, particularly their dependence on oil. The war-situation in the Gulf Area has shown in which scale disturbances of the supply of energy could be created by international political conflicts.Encouraging the increased use of indigenous fuels and, where energy has to be imported, ensuring that the sources of such supplies are spread as widely as possible, will stay some of the measures that have to be promoted in a still stronger effort than was utilised up to now. An expansion of district heating activities would make it possible to more easily choose between alternative fuels in order to realize the most efficient energy supply. Where feasible, the combined production of heat and power will have to be promoted as the first option, as it integrates the environmental savings of centralised production units and the energy saving of the combined production. One of the easiest ways to release the environment is to diminish the use of energy. With combined production this goal can be realised apart from efforts to diminish the energy-consumption of the end-users.
In North American countries also District Cooling has received a growing interest. For that reason also attention has been given to the specific aspects of this kind of technology, in relation to energy savings and amelioration of the environment.
For several years the IEA have worked on evaluating the possible advantages of District Heating. Comprehensive material from governments, utilities, research institutes, manufacturers and individuals has been collected and studied. The work undertaken was presented in a 1983-report 'District Heating and Combined Heat and Power Systems'. That report pointed to a number of areas where more knowledge was needed and made suggestions to be taken up in the 'District Heating Research and Development Project'. The 1983-report still is of importance for those who are interested in this field.
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