The document discusses energy usage in the EU and proposes integrating heating networks across sectors to reduce waste heat and achieve EU energy reduction targets. It describes how SkyAI uses satellite imagery and AI to detect heat losses from buildings and visualize opportunities for improvements. The heat detection solution is intended to provide actionable insights to help lower energy consumption and carbon emissions.

1. SKYAI
Combining Satellite Imagery
and Artificial Intelligence
to make the world a better place

2. 2 3
Energy usage in the EU
The EU’s energy usage can be separated into a few significant sectors, namely Transport, Industry,
Households and Services. Transport makes up one third (33.2%) of energy usage whilst a little
more than half can be attributed to households (24.8%) and industry (25.9%) and services another
13.2%. (figure 1).
To indicate the scale of energy consumption of the EU 27, the energy used in the EU is equivalent
to 1,606 million tonnes of oil usage in 2014, which is the lowest it had been since 1994. (European
Commission 1, 2016)
The energy & emission reduction targets are well addressed in the transport sector as rigorous
testing is required to meet the standards of the EU (European Commission 2, 2016). The EU
policy is to continue to restrict emission from transport over time with an eventual phasing out
of emissive transport al together. As the roadmap for the transport sector is well defined, this
is not necessarily the case for the other sectors. To truly reduce energy usage in the industrial,
residential and services sector, it has been proposed to integrate the supply chain of heating and
cooling across the sectors. As heating is one of the main sources of energy use, major gains can
be made if the value chain is integrated.
Abstract
This paper analyses the current efforts by the EU to reduce its energy usage. Based on the
current situation and the goal the European Commission has set, it is argued that reducing waste
heat would significantly help the EU in achieving its energy targets over the coming years. The
amount of heat losses from the industrial sector is comparable to what is used by households
and the services sector, integration of the heat networks would therefore be a cost effective
solution to the EU energy reduction goals. Finally a heat waste detection service is proposed to
allow organisations to visualize heat losses and observe opportunities for improvements.
Introduction / The Challenge
Growth in environmental concerns across the globe has lead to a deeper understanding of our
energy usage. The EU in particular has been at the forefront of reducing its energy usage. For
example, the Horizon 2020 plan aims to reduce energy consumption by 20% before 2020 and
30% by 2030. (European Commission, 2015)
Energy usage in itself is not the issue; the economy and the welfare of EU citizens is often driven
by energy usage. Our current sourcing of energy and the negative externalities associated with
the usage of energy however, is a global issue. Not only global warming but also health factors are
the main drivers for a reduction in energy usage in the EU.
The EU has set an ambitious goal to reduce total carbon emission by 80% in 2050 compared to
1990 levels (Connolly et al., 2013), which cannot be achieved without significant energy efficiency
gains throughout the economy. The policies put forth by the European Commission put pressure
on both national and local governments to address their environmental impact and reduce
energy usage. To aid governments as well as consultants for the public sector, this paper will
address the current energy situation; in particular the savings that can be gained from heat waste.
Households
Services
Agriculture & Forestry
OtherIndustry
Transport
Figure 1
Final energy consumption, EU-28, 2014 (% of total,
based on tonnes of oil equivalent) (Eurostat, 2016)

3. 4 5
Figure 2 Household energy consumption by end-use in the EU-27
To combat excessive heat losses the EU, in February 2016, put forward its heating and cooling
strategy. The strategy strives to make it easier to make renovations to homes as well as buildings
in the services sector, better integrate the electrical grid with the heating and cooling network and
finally integrate industry, households and services for heat redistribution. (European Commission,
2016)
To set an example, the energy efficiency directive (EED) of the EU requires the member states
to renovate 3% of the heating and cooling of buildings owned and occupied by the central
government. (European Commission, 2015)
Figure 3 Energy consumption by end use per dwelling, 2009 (European Environment Agency, 2012)
By introducing more district heating and integrating households, the service sector and industry;
massive energy savings are possible. District heating is seen as one of the most cost effective
measures for reducing emissions and achieving EU energy targets. Energy savings at scale
achieved by the full integration of the heating network also provides the potential for significant
cost savings across all sectors to which it applies. (Connolly et al., 2013)
Industry leaks enough heat into the air and water to meet the EU’s entire residential and
services heat demands.
Gothenburg is a great example of a city where the integration of industry with district heating
systems has taken place. In Gothenburg 90% of apartment buildings are heated by waste heat
from industry. (European Commission 3, 2016)
As mentioned, heat waste is a significant, if not the most significant, cause of high energy
consumption. To ensure that policy makers are able to make constructive changes to the existing
heating grid, it is essential to be well informed on where heat waste currently occurs. This is why
SkyAi has developed our heat detection software, through which we use satellite imagery to make
all significant heat losses visible.
Cooking
Heat losses
Space heating is the largest source of energy usage for a residential home as well as offices. On
average 68% of energy used within residences is used for space heating as can be seen in Figure
2 (European Environment Agency, 2012). Furthermore space heating is estimated to account for
half of the EU’s overall energy consumption and accounts for 68% of EU natural gas consumption
whilst only 18% comes from renewables (European Commission 3, 2016).
Some EU member states have been able to effectively reduce energy usage from space heating
in new buildings by applying appropriate building standards. Buildings that are built today require
40% less energy than buildings built in the 1990s. However since 1990 the housing sector has
increased its energy consumption by 7.5%, mainly because of the increasing need for housing.
(European Environment Agency, 2012)
Electricity for lighting and appliancesSpace Heating AverageWater Heating
20091990
%
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Space Heating Water Heating Cooking Electricity for lighting and
appliances
Toe/dwelling
M
altaBulgariaPortugalSpain
LithuaniaCyprusCroatia
Rom
ania
ItalySlovakiaGreecePolandH
ungarySloveniaEU
-27
N
etherlands
Czech
Republic
U
nited
KingdomFranceEstoniaSw
eden
Germ
any
D
enm
arkLatviaAustriaN
orw
ayBelgiumIrelandFinland
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5

4. 6 7
See the heat
SkyAi’s heat detection solution can visualise heat radiating from buildings. Using imagery from
sun synchronous polar satellites SkyAi can give refresh rates on a biweekly basis at an accuracy
of 30 meters. By post processing all images we can bring this accuracy down to several meters
for specific areas. Our post processing also models weather conditions and climates so as to get
accurate heat dissipation levels from buildings.
The biweekly refresh rates allow us to track heat dissipating from buildings on a regular basis. It
is therefore possible to see when changes have been made to a building’s heating system and
furthermore detect if less waste heat is generated. The heat detection solution is meant to give
long term actionable insights for municipalities, provincial and national governments as well as
businesses.
The example visualization seen above shows the heat losses of an area of the Netherlands
partially covered by our heat detection solution. On the left of the image one can see a bright red
area light up, showing significant heat production, which is the port of Rotterdam.
On top of visualising heat losses, SkyAi can also index the actual amount of heat that is lost as well
as the associated energy usage. This data makes it possible to also make cost analysis so as to
calculate possible savings from changes to heating systems and therefore truly provide actionable
data for any organization.
By employing satellite data it has become possible to visualise heat losses everywhere in the
world. Although this document specifically addresses the EU, our software can be applied to every
urban environment and industrial area. We have built this product so that the gap in actionable
sustainability data can be closed and accurate policy decisions can be made.
In conclusion, reducing heat waste across different sectors can increase the chances of achieving
the goals set by the EU for 2050. Being able to see the sources of said heat waste can be a
valuable asset for policy makers at municipal, provincial & national governments as it provides the
tools to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint. Furthermore SkyAi also provides data
to sustainability consultancies and companies who want to accurately measure the impact they
have on the world.
If you have any questions about SkyAi, our heat detection software or any of our other product
offerings, do not hesitate to contact Joost van Oorschot at Joost@skyai.io.

5. 8
References
• Connolly et al, 2013, ‘Heat Roadmap Europe: Combining district heating with heat savings to
decarbonise the EU energy system’, Energy policy, vol 65, pp. 475-489 Available from: https://
www.researchgate.net/profile/Henrik_Lund3/publication/259513305_Heat_Roadmap_Europe_
Combining_district_heating_with_heat_savings_to_decarbonise_the_EU_energy_system/
links/54213ae00cf241a65a1e7798.pdf. [10 February 2017].
• European Commission, 2015, Assessment of the progress made by Member States towards
the national energy efficiency targets for 2020 and towards the implementation of the
Energy Efficiency, Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/1_
EEprogress_report.pdf. [5 February 2017].
• European Commission 1, 2016, Consumption of energy, July 2016, Available from: http://
ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Consumption_of_energy#Consumption.
[1 February 2017].
• European Commission 2, 2016, Air pollutants from road transport, 26 February 2016, Available
from: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/transport/road.htm. [8 February 2017].
• European Commission 3, 2016, Commission launches plans to curb energy use in heating and
cooling, 17 February 2016, Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/news/commission-
launches-plans-curb-energy-use-heating-and-cooling . [11 February 2017].
• European Environment Agency, 2012, Energy efficiency and energy consumption in the
household sector, 6 November 2013, Available from: http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-
maps/indicators/energy-efficiency-and-energy-consumption-5/assessment. [4 February 2017].
• Eurostat, 2016, Final energy consumption, EU-28, 2014 (% of total, based on tonnes of oil
equivalent) YB16, image. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/
index.php/File:Final_energy_consumption,_EU-28,_2014_(%25_of_total,_based_on_tonnes_of_
oil_equivalent)_YB16.png. [8 February 2017].