At Causeway Energies we place geothermal energy and electric heat pumps at the core of our clean tech offer to decarbonise larger scale heating and cooling needs in industry, agriculture, big buildings and heat networks.
However, our engagement with clients is not just about these technologies. We find that by taking a five-step approach we can radically improve business performance, both in terms of profit margin and the reduction of your carbon footprint.
We’ve put together 5 steps below to show you how we deliver positive change for our customers.
Step 1 – Start with a clean slate
When we start off with a client we critically examine the existing energy system, which we have found is mostly designed around fossil fuel. This resource produces far more energy than is actually and over half of the primary energy contained in fossil fuel gets completely wasted. Our first step is to fully understand the actual energy work that is required so that we can provide a sustainable and cost-efficient solution. Recently we worked with a client who is in the brewing industry. Historically, they used steam to clean brewing vats between batches, but we found that very hot water will work just as well. Through this conversion, we eliminated the need to use x 6 times more energy to convert hot water to steam.
Step 2 – take a look at the energy efficiency
How is your energy system currently running? We always look at the system as a whole, seeking opportunities to re-use or re-cycle energy, or use energy that would otherwise be wasted. For example, if our client’s facility has both cooling and heating requirements, we engineer a route to ensure that the waste heat from the cold store is recycled into the heat pump system rather than being wastefully expelled from the cooling fans on the building’s roof.
Step 3 – Electrify the heat
Geothermal heat pumps are a highly powerful technology to provide heating (and cooling) to spaces, water and manufacturing processes. The power comes from extracting at least x 4 times the thermal energy from the earth over the amount of electricity that is used to drive the heat pumps. We currently substitute heating up to 80 ºC and are working to innovate this further by going above 120 ºC. Geothermal heat pumps increase the efficiency of their power as well as significantly lowering the costs.
Step 4 – Taking an integrated approach to your 4D microgrids
When we work with clients, we always consider their facilities as thermo-electric microgrids. If a client wants to replace their gas boiler with a geothermal heat pump, they will also need to consider a Solar PV installation. We work with the solar installer to ensure that the electrical load from the heat pump is factored in. This collaboration maximises the use of rooftop solar and reduces the costs of the electricity.
Another key piece is to consider the element of time. A customer may have a high heat demand in the winter and a high cooling load in the summer- so we design a geothermal exchange where heat extracted in the summer from the facility is stored in the earth – like a thermal battery – for recovery and reuse in the winter.
Step 5 – Maximise the return on the customer’s capital
Our approach in steps 1- 4 focus on both reducing the energy demand and carbon content of our clients’ energy, as well as reducing the unit energy costs over the facility life. The further step we offer, called Heat-as-a-Service (HaaS), is where we provide the finance to cover the capital costs of the energy system. This means that the full cycle costs of the client’s energy use show up as an expense – which is cheaper than their prior fossil fuel costs. This in turn allows our clients to have the ability to focus their capital investments on their business’s growth and success, with their costs and carbon emissions scaled back and reduced, for good.
Enabled by our geothermal clean tech we use these 5 steps to support our customers’ green energy journeys, from start to finish. Drive down your energy costs and carbon footprint by speaking to one of our experts, today.
If you would like to book a consultation to see how Causeway Energies can help your business, click here to get in touch.
