A new online tool is set to help accelerate the transition from fossil gas to renewable sources of heat for industrial and commercial businesses in Australia.
The supply of heat for the industrial and commercial sectors accounts for around 10 per cent of Australia’s emissions, with the majority of the heat still supplied by fossil gas.
Under pressure from the costs and risks associated with this fossil gas use, Australian businesses are increasingly seeking alternative sources of decarbonised heat to reduce emissions and lower and secure energy costs.
However, many are overwhelmed by the number of options already commercially available and unsure which technologies to spend time and money pursuing.
The Renewable Heat Selection Tool developed by the Australia Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP) is an easy-to-use, AI-powered online tool which narrows down the renewable heat options for an application, based on a range of factors.
A2EP CEO, Jarrod Leak, said the organisation has accumulated extensive knowledge and experience with renewable heat technologies and projects over the last 15 years and have put all those insights into this tool for Australian businesses to use free-of-charge.
“Too often we see businesses wasting time and money pursuing technologies that are not suited to their applications and missing out on invaluable grant opportunities as a result,” Leak said.
“With just a few details and figures, the Renewable Heat Selection Tool will put users on the right track for renewable heat technologies and connect them with more information to keep the momentum going.”
The technology options assessed by the tool include electric thermal energy storage (eTES), electrode boilers, heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, biogas and biomass boilers, electric resistance boilers and concentrated solar thermal.
Access the Renewable Heat Selection Tool at renewableheatselector.com