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This policy brief presents key messages, findings and recommendations from the spatial analysis.

This policy brief presents key messages, findings and recommendations for the energy grids.

The Pan-European Thermal Atlas Peta is an online visualization tool for spatial data. Version 5.1 was launched in 2020 with a first set of layers for the EU27+UK, which related to energy demands in the base year and first, intermediate project results regarding energy efficiency potentials. With the update to version 5.2, Peta was complemented with layers based on the scenarios studied in different sEEnergies tasks, completed after the launch of Peta 5.1. As a result, Peta 5.2 shows energy demand and energy efficiency data for residential and service sector buildings as well as for industry and transport for different scenarios, focusing on the status-quo and the scenario year 2050, while also containing 2030 data. Throughout the Heat Roadmap Europe projects, Peta has been developed as an information system for the heat sector. Its main content related to district heating grid investment costs, district heating area demarcations and supply options. The current version 5.2 features new layers that include future heat demands and district heating development costs for distribution and service pipe investment costs, as well as energy efficiency potentials of the industry and transport sectors. In a new layer group Peta 5.2 presents the results of spatial analyses, for example the allocation of excess heat to urban areas as well as an index that combines energy efficiency potentials across sectors and technologies.

The present report accounts for the spatial models of energy efficiency and the geospatial analysis carried out to quantify and locate energy efficiency potentials across sectors. In the building sector, future heat demands on national scales are being distributed using the age class of built-up areas and innovative models of future population distribution. District heat distribution capital costs combined with heat demand densities allow for the assessment of economic potentials of future district heating. Efficiency potentials in the transport and industrial sectors have been associated to locations, and transmission infrastructures have been mapped. Combining all these aspects, spatial analytics help understanding the opportunities and constraints that arise from the geography of energy systems. Energy efficiency in the three sectors has been mapped at different scales. Cost curves for district heating have been prepared for member states. For use in energy systems analysis, a matrix has been developed that relates energy efficiency in buildings and district heating potentials. Areas of interest for the conversion of natural gas to district heating have been mapped, combining present gas use with infrastructural aspects. Local potentials of district heating have been quantified for almost 150,000 settlements, and potential heat sources from industrial and wastewater treatment plants as well as locally available renewable energy sources have been allocated to potential district heating areas. Finally, to visualise and compare energy efficiency across sectors, technologies, and countries, the sEEnergies Index shows local potentials for improving energy efficiency and utilising synergies in all settlements of the EU27 plus the UK. In conclusion, the report documents how dissemination can be facilitated using the online geospatial information and mapping applications prepared in the sEEnergies Project.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Flow cytometric determination of ovine leukocyte composition. (A) Viable, propidium iodide-negative leukocytes after hypotonic lysis of heparinised blood were identified in a propidium iodide versus side scatter density plot. (B) Identification of singlets among viable leukocytes in an FSC-area versus FSC-height density plot. (C) Leukocytes gated on viable and single cells were plotted in FSC-A vs SSC-A density plot. Neutrophils (Neutro), lymphocytes [61], and monocytes (Mono) were identified based on their characteristic size (FSC) and complexity (SSC). Representative data from one animal.

Additional file 2: Figure S2. Flow cytometric determination of ovine neutrophil phagocytic activity in vitro. Heparinized blood was incubated with or without heat-killed FITC-labelled S. aureus (Cells:Bacteria = 1:50). (A) FSCA vs SSCA density plot of leukocytes after hypotonic lysis and identification of neutrophils (Neutro) based on their forward and side scatter characteristics. (B) Identification of viable, propidium iodide-negative neutrophils. (C) Identification of eosinophils in an FITC versus propidium iodide density plot. For assessing neutrophil phagocytosis in control set ups and samples with FITC-labelled S. aureus (D) in FITC versus SSC-A density plots, eosinophils were excluded from the analysis. Phagocytosis activity was defined as the percentage of green fluorescent cells among viable neutrophil (D lower right quadrant). The mean cellular phagocytic capacity was defined as the geometric mean green fluorescence of phagocytic-positive (green fluorescing) granulocytes. Representative data from one animal.

Additional file 3: Figure S3 Flow cytometric determination of ovine monocyte subpopulations. A) Monocytes (Mono) were identified among blood mononuclear cells based on their size and complexity. B) Identification of viable, propidium-negative Mono and (C) identification of single cells among viable Mono. D) Correlated density plot of Mono stained with directly labelled monoclonal antibodies specific for CD16 and CD14 and identification of classical (cM, CD14++ CD16-), intermediate (intM, CD14++ CD16+) and non-classical monocytes (ncM, CD14- CD16++). Representative data from one animal.

This analysis elaborates further the concept of physical and economic suitability for district heating in EU28 by an aggregation regarding key dimensions such as land areas, populations, heat demands, and investment volumes. This aggregation is based on a resolution on hectare level by slicing the total land area into 437 million pieces. Results show that heat demands in buildings are present in 9% of the land area. Because of high concentrations in towns and cities, 78% of the total heat demand in buildings originate from dense urban areas that constitute 1.4% of the total land area and 70% of the population. Due to these high heat densities above 50 MJ/m2 per year, the paper evaluates a setting where district heating is individually expanded in each member state for reaching a common 50% heat market proportion in EU28 at lowest cost. At this saturation rate, the aggregated EU28 district heat deliveries would increase to 5.4 EJ/a at current heat demands and represents an expansion investment volume, starting from current level of 1.3 EJ, of approximately 270 billion euro for heat distribution pipes. Given the current high heat densities in European urban areas, this study principally confirms earlier expectations by quantitative estimations.