energigennanvendelse

Energigennanvendelse is a concept in energy policy and industrial design referring to the practice of reusing energy within a system to reduce total energy consumption and emissions. The core idea is to maximize the amount of useful energy obtained from a source by recovering and repurposing energy that would otherwise be wasted, and by cascading energy across processes, buildings, and sectors.

Practices commonly associated with energigennanvendelse include waste-heat recovery from manufacturing or power generation, heat-pump assisted transfers that move energy to where it is needed, district heating networks powered by recovered energy, and process integration that redirects outputs such as steam, hot water, or heat from one process to another. The approach often involves cross-sector coupling, including linking industrial heat with building heating or cooling needs and using thermal energy storage to align supply and demand.

Potential benefits include lower primary energy use, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and cost savings over the life of energy systems. It supports the circular economy by increasing energy efficiency and resilience, and it aligns with decarbonization and energy security goals in many Nordic and European policies.

Challenges include high upfront capital costs, the need for integrated planning across utilities and industries, regulatory barriers, and data requirements for measuring energy savings. Realizing energigennanvendelse often requires coordinated policy instruments, standardized metering, and information-sharing platforms to enable replication and scaling.