Cleaner steam systems seen as meaningful urban decarbonization tool

Steam systems that provide heating and cooling for some buildings in urban areas can be meaningful components of decarbonization efforts.

In Manhattan, Consolidated Edison supplies about 1,500 customers with steam. It is one of hundreds of century-old steam systems operating across the U.S. in dense urban spaces and at large institutions including college campuses and airports. New state and local legislation in New York that requires clean sources of energy including New York City’s Local Law 97 are likely to prompt more customers to sign on.

A steam system can integrate technologies such as electric boilers, heat pumps, thermal storage, and integrate renewables to produce steam with less carbon output. One example: Vicinity Energy Inc. plans to install a massive heat pump that will harvest thermal energy from the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass.

In the greater Boston area, Vicinity’s steam pipe system delivers heat to about 70 million sf of building space. If such systems across the country can decarbonize, they will have a significant impact toward reaching local climate goals.