Sustainable Residential Energy Supply: A Literature Review-Based Morphological Analysis

Abstract

The decarbonization of the energy system will bring substantial changes, from supranational regions to residential sites. This review investigates sustainable energy supply, applying a multi-sectoral approach from a residential site perspective, especially with focus on identifying crucial, plausible factors and their influence on the operation of the system. The traditionally separated mobility, heat, and electricity sectors are examined in more detail with regard to their decarbonization approaches. For every sector, available technologies, demand, and future perspectives are described. Furthermore, the benefits of cross-sectoral integration and technology coupling are examined, besides challenges to the electricity grid due to upcoming technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps. Measures such as transport mode shift and improving building insulation can reduce the demand in their respective sector, although their impact remains uncertain. Moreover, flexibility measures such as Power to X or vehicle to grid couple the electricity sector to other sectors such as the mobility and heat sectors. Based on these findings, a morphological analysis is conducted. A morphological box is presented to summarize the major characteristics of the future residential energy system and investigate mutually incompatible pairs of factors. Lastly, the scenario space is further analyzed in terms of annual energy demand for a district.