ABSTRACT
Mannheim, a city of 300,000 inhabitants, is the main centre of one of the most important agglomerations in south western Germany, the Rhine-Neckar region, with a total population of 1.8 million. In Mannheim, the first efforts to establish a district heating system date back to 1938/39. In 1977, based on a study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology, and supported from federal funds within the nationwide Programme for Investments in the Future, the Stadtwerke Mannheim initiated their district heating demonstration project. A major heating and power producing station, Heizkraftwerk Nord, began operating in 1964, using a combination of solid waste, natural gas, and oil for cogeneration of district heating and electricity. In 1988, the oil input had been reduced to about 15 per cent. The percentage of energy produced from wastes in the total supply of final energy in Mannheim is 3 per cent of the electricity, and 18 per cent of the district heating.
