Transitioning to Low-Carbon Residential Heating: The Impacts of Material-Related Emissions

To achieve climate
neutrality, future urban heating systems will
need to use a variety of low-carbon heating technologies. The transition
toward low-carbon heating technologies necessitates a complete restructuring
of the heating system, with significant associated material requirements.
However, little research has been done into the quantity and environmental
impact of the required materials for this system change. We analyzed
the material demand and the environmental impact of the transition
toward low-carbon heating in the Netherlands across three scenarios
based on the local availability and capacity for sources of low-carbon
heat. A wide range of materials are included, covering aggregates,
construction materials, metals, plastics, and critical materials.
We find that while the Dutch policy goal of reducing GHG emissions
by 90% before 2050 can be achieved if only direct emissions from the
heating system are considered, this is no longer the case when the
cradle-to-gate emissions from the additional materials, especially
insulation materials, are taken into account. The implementation of
these technologies will require 59–63 megatons of materials
in the period of 2021–2050, leading to a maximum reduction
of 62%.