IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v339y2025ics0360544225044561.html

Assessing the economic feasibility of renewable integration in district heating and cooling networks for sustainable urban development

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Wei
  • Abu bakr, Muhammad

Abstract

This study looks at whether it’s possible to switch from traditional heating and cooling technologies to more modern, low-carbon ones in cities. In particular, it looks at fifth-generation district heating and cooling (5GDHC) systems, which are new networks that use low-temperature, bidirectional thermal energy exchange to cut down on energy waste and bring in renewable sources. The report criticizes common electrification methods like individual heat pumps and distributed generation, which typically ignore the long-term consequences to the economy and the environment. This study compares 5GDHC systems with traditional methods in five major cities: Brisbane, Melbourne, New York City, Paris, and Singapore. It does this by using a comprehensive evaluation framework that includes linear programming optimization, cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment, and global sensitivity analysis. The primary questions for this study are: (1) Can 5GDHC systems work in different types of cities? (2) Do they cut down on greenhouse gas emissions by a lot? The results demonstrate that 5GDHC systems can cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 21 %, cut annual expenses by as much as 26 %, and reach energy self-sufficiency rates of up to 98 %. These results give policymakers and city planners a strong tool to help them make decisions about how to decarbonize the system for warmth and cooling.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Wei & Abu bakr, Muhammad, 2025. "Assessing the economic feasibility of renewable integration in district heating and cooling networks for sustainable urban development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:339:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225044561
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.138814
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225044561
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.138814?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khan, Irfan & Zakari, Abdulrasheed & Dagar, Vishal & Singh, Sanjeet, 2022. "World energy trilemma and transformative energy developments as determinants of economic growth amid environmental sustainability," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Yiming, Wang & Xun, Liu & Umair, Muhammad & Aizhan, Assilova, 2024. "COVID-19 and the transformation of emerging economies: Financialization, green bonds, and stock market volatility," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Acheampong, Alex O. & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Dogah, Kingsley E., 2023. "The political economy of energy transition: The role of globalization and governance in the adoption of clean cooking fuels and technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PB).
    4. Lu, Qingchang & Umair, Muhammad & Qin, Zhilong & Ullah, Mirzat, 2024. "Exploring the nexus of oil price shocks: Impacts on financial dynamics and carbon emissions in the crude oil industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    5. Kachirayil, Febin & Weinand, Jann Michael & Scheller, Fabian & McKenna, Russell, 2022. "Reviewing local and integrated energy system models: insights into flexibility and robustness challenges," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    6. Chrysanthos Maraveas & Christos-Spyridon Karavas & Dimitrios Loukatos & Thomas Bartzanas & Konstantinos G. Arvanitis & Eleni Symeonaki, 2023. "Agricultural Greenhouses: Resource Management Technologies and Perspectives for Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-46, July.
    7. Huynh, Cong Minh & Phan, Thi Nga, 2024. "Climate change and income inequality: Does renewable energy matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    8. Zheng, Xiumin & Imran, Muhammad & Umair, Muhammad & Lin, Chen & Dong, Yue, 2025. "Modern panelizing and optimization techniques for renewable energy projects; perspectives on how CO2 emissions impact the circular economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    9. Chen, Huihui & Rehman, Mubeen Abdur & Luo, Jia & Ali, Madad, 2022. "Dynamic influence of natural resources, financial integration and eco-innovation on ecological sustainability in EKC framework: Fresh insights from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    10. Ullah, Mirzat & Umair, Muhammad & Sohag, Kazi & Mariev, Oleg & Khan, Muhammad Asif & Sohail, Hafiz M., 2024. "The connection between disaggregate energy use and export sophistication: New insights from OECD with robust panel estimations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    11. Bouoiyour, Jamal & Gauthier, Marie & Bouri, Elie, 2023. "Which is leading: Renewable or brown energy assets?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    12. Zhang, Zhiwei & Vo, Dat-Nguyen & Nguyen, Tuan B.H. & Sun, Jinsheng & Lee, Chang-Ha, 2024. "Advanced process integration and machine learning-based optimization to enhance techno-economic-environmental performance of CO2 capture and conversion to methanol," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhuang, Feipeng & Han, Huilin & Ahsan, Muhammad & Iqbal, Athar, 2025. "Transitioning ecological footprint: Private investment trends in renewable energy projects among G10 nations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    2. Wang, Jiale & Wang, Liu, 2025. "Industrial energy organizations: cost sharing, grid effect, and storing energy development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    3. Xie, Yu & Ling, Xing, 2026. "Forecasting green hydrogen production in China: Hybrid deep learning assessment of economic, environmental, and renewable energy integration," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PG).
    4. Zheng, Xiumin & Imran, Muhammad & Umair, Muhammad & Lin, Chen & Dong, Yue, 2025. "Modern panelizing and optimization techniques for renewable energy projects; perspectives on how CO2 emissions impact the circular economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    5. Wang, Yaobin, 2026. "Energy security and economic growth: Analyzing the impact of fossil fuels in SAARC countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    6. Saqib, Najia & Ozturk, Ilhan & Sharif, Arshian & Cichoń, Dariusz, 2024. "Enhancing sustainable energy: Mineral exports, financial development, and foreign investment can build a greener future?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    7. Feng, Yanchao & Sabir, Saeed Ahmad & Quddus, Abdul & Wang, Jianxin & Abbas, Shujaat, 2024. "Do the grey clouds of geopolitical risk and political globalization exacerbate environmental degradation? Evidence from resource-rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Ruan, Yunsheng & Wang, Wenqing & Abubakar, Muhammad & Ahmad, Nazeer, 2025. "Global economic resilience: Developing green growth strategies, renewable energy integration, and environmental economics for sustainability," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    9. Cao, Shanshan & Huang, Lin & Zhang, Qingping & hán, Zǐ, 2024. "Energy transition to green energy sources – Role of socioeconomic disparities and administrative policies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    10. Irfan, Muhammad & Rehman, Mubeen Abdur & Razzaq, Asif & Hao, Yu, 2023. "What derives renewable energy transition in G-7 and E-7 countries? The role of financial development and mineral markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    11. Liu, Yi & Ma, Xiaoyun & Zhu, Yan & Gulzar, Fatima & Guliyeva, Shafa, 2024. "Harnessing corporate digitalization for green tech advancements: The mediating influence of mineral resource endowments," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    12. Lu, Ye & bibi, Sidra, 2025. "Advancements in coupling strategies for urban microclimate and building energy models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    13. Haroon, Muhammad & Ullah, Mirzat & Li, Zhanqiang & Zhu, Shuo & Wang, Judong & Hsueh, Chu-Pin (Eugune), 2025. "Impact of emerging technologies on corporate social responsibility in mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    14. Tripathy, Prajukta & Jena, Pabitra Kumar & Mishra, Bikash Ranjan, 2024. "Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of energy efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    15. Ullah, Sami & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Harnessing the synergistic impacts of financial structure, industrialization, and ecological footprint through the lens of the EKC hypothesis. Insights from Pakistan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    16. Minjing Yang & Cosimo Magazzino & Abraham Ayobamiji Awosusi & Navzodbek Abdulloev, 2024. "Determinants of Load capacity factor in BRICS countries: A panel data analysis," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2), pages 525-548, May.
    17. Liu, Jiamin & Zhang, Jiaoning & Ma, Xiaoyu & Zhao, Bin & Zhang, Mengyu, 2024. "The road to sustainable development: Can the new energy demonstration city policy promote the industrial structure transformation?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PB).
    18. Awijen, Haithem & Ben Zaied, Younes & Ben Jabeur, Sami, 2025. "Mobilizing FDI in natural resources in the post-COP28 era: Spatial drivers, natural capital, and sustainability dynamics," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    19. Yuanyuan Xu & Jing Jia & Hamid Mahmood & Samia Khalid, 2026. "Natural resource depletion and carbon inequality: An empirical insight from developed and developing countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 37(2), pages 1096-1115, March.
    20. Yi Ren & Fei Yang & Kang Liu & Tian Liang & Lihua Wang, 2026. "The effects of low-carbon city pilot policy on urban land green use efficiency: evidence from 284 cities in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 521-547, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:339:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225044561. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.