Your choices:
1 Electricity; 2 Comfortable indoor climate; 3 Wind
| What is your resource? | What do you want to deliver? | What is the service the customer wants? |
| Biomass (digestible sludge) | District cooling | 2 Comfortable indoor climate |
| Biomass (fermentable sludge) | District heating | Electricity |
| Biomass (solid) | 1 Electricity | Process cooling (< 0 °C) |
| Geothermal | Fuel: Gaseous | Process heat/steam (50 - 150 °C) |
| Sunshine | Fuel: Liquid | Process heat (150 - 1000 °C) |
| Water | Fuel: Solid | Process heat (> 1000 °C) |
| 3 Wind | Local cooling (ind. house) | Transport |
| Residual oils/fats etc | Local heating (ind. house) |
Electricity is the king of energy carriers and should generally not be used for low-exergy purposes such as indoor climate control, unless there are special circumstances.
In case the electricity is produced in a wind power station, and this is the second best way to produce electricity, then one has to distinguish between two radically different situations.
Wind power come in all sizes from small, garden-sized generators with a power capacity of one to a few kW and up to giants more than 100 m high and with a power output of 5 MW.
For a small-scale installation where the energy produced is less than the energy used in a single household and where the generator is connected to the building electricity net at 230 V, then the net effect of the wind generator becomes a saving for the individual house owner and also for the grid.
From a large-scale installation, though, wind electricity is not to be seen as a produce for the individual household but should always be regarded as a commercial product traded and exchanged via the general electricity grid. And then, the general thermodynamic constraints apply and it should generally not be used for low-exergy services but should be contracted to provide such services for which the unique features of electricity are appreciated.