Clean Heat St. Paul is a proposal from the City of Saint Paul, the Metropolitan Council, Xcel Energy, and District Energy St. Paul to use waste water from the Metropolitan Council’s treatment plant to replace natural gas.
Clean Heat St. Paul is a proposed waste heat recovery system, which is the process of actively capturing byproduct heat for space heating or water heating that would otherwise be put back into the environment. Waste heat recovery can help further reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from heating and cooling, among other benefits.
The technology and engineering behind waste heat recovery systems are well-understood, argues Luke Gaalswyk, President and CEO of District Energy St. Paul. To implement them more widely requires supportive policy and funding.
District Energy St. Paul has a long history of researching and investing in new technology to better serve customers with reliable heating and cooling services, and hopes that, once a reality, Clean Heat St. Paul could serve as a model for other cities to replicate.
For more on the growing push for waste heat recovery, read the full profile in Circle of Blue.