District heating networks produce more while reducing their carbon footprint
Explore where networks are located, how their dominant energy source changes, and why their carbon trajectories differ.
STARTING POINT
A national average does not tell the whole story
Between 2020 and 2024, production-weighted direct CO₂ content declines in aggregate. But this average combines very different network trajectories.
EXPLORE THE DATA
Move from analysis to interactive exploration.
Open Energy Explorer to browse regional carbon trajectories, national trends and district heating networks in a full-screen interface.
NATIONAL TREND
Direct CO₂ content declines on the constant panel
gCO₂/kWh · production weighted
Source: SDES, Local energy data, district heating and cooling networks. Constant panel of 584 networks observed every year, 2020–2024. SolDataSynth calculations.
ENERGY MIX
Gas declines while biomass gains ground
Natural gas34,4 % → 32,1 %
Biomass20,7 % → 23,8 %
UIOM22,1 % → 24,2 %
Source: SDES, Local energy data, district heating and cooling networks. All observed networks, 2020 and 2024 production. Groupings are descriptive and are not a regulatory renewable-and-recovered-energy rate. SolDataSynth calculations.
THE REGIONAL CONTRAST
Western and southern regions move against the national trend
The national average falls, yet Brittany, Occitanie, Pays de la Loire and Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur record an increase. Meanwhile Hauts de France, Auvergne Rhône Alpes, Bourgogne Franche Comté, Normandy and Grand Est decline markedly.
Bretagne+50,0 %Occitanie+30,4 %Hauts de France−35,3 %Auvergne Rhône Alpes−26,5 %
Changes in dominant energy source, production growth and network composition are possible explanations. These descriptive trends do not, by themselves, demonstrate a geographic cause.
EXPLAIN
The dominant energy source helps explain trajectories
Among the 584 constant-panel networks, 116 change dominant energy source between 2020 and 2024. Thirty move from natural gas to biomass dominance; 28 of those 30 also record lower direct CO₂ content. This is descriptive association, not causal proof.
SOURCE · METHOD · LIMITATIONS
How this Insight was built
French SDES local energy data district heating and cooling files at commune level. Data describe each network, its host commune, production, capacity, CO₂ content, delivery points and, depending on year, production by energy source.
The harmonised database covers 2018–2024. This Insight is restricted to metropolitan France, including Corsica; overseas observations are excluded from published indicators and maps. The statistical unit is network × year, restricted to FILIERE = C for heating networks. Location analysis uses 2018–2024; energy-mix and carbon analysis prioritises 2020–2024.
The 1,097 distinct identifiers observed over 2018–2024 do not form a balanced panel. Some time comparisons therefore use a constant panel of 584 networks present every year.
`COMMUNE_CODE` and `COMMUNE_LIBELLE` identify the network's host commune. Map points therefore represent located networks, not a performance value for every commune. Regional boundaries are bundled with the site to ensure availability.
Some consumption and delivery-point values are protected by statistical confidentiality and appear as `s`. SolDataSynth treats these values as confidential/missing and never as zero.
Energy-mix and CO₂ changes are descriptive. A simultaneous change in dominant source and carbon content is a temporal association, not causal proof. Chart groupings should not automatically be interpreted as an official regulatory renewable-and-recovered-energy rate.
References and traceability
Producer: SDES · Period analysed: 2018 to 2024 · Data retrieved on 15 August 2026 · Processing: SolDataSynth · Analytical base: network by year · Publication version: 1.0.