Rapid Pre-Insulated Pipe Growth Credited to Extreme Air Pollution Levels

It snowed in the U.A.E., which is in the middle of the desert, in 2017, with the temperatures plummeting to –2.2 °C, while the eternally frozen Antarctica just recently saw a record high of 18 °C! Anyone who isn’t convinced that climate change is real should read these stats. And the reason? Air pollution, caused by carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases emitted by industries, vehicles, and houses. To reduce this as much as possible, governments are strongly pushing people to not only conserve energy, but also create it from renewable sources.

A net-zero energy building (NZEB) takes care of both these things, by generating renewable electricity on-site and only using as much as it creates, at the same time leading to considerably low emissions. Due to these advantages, their construction is gaining momentum around the world, which is pushing the demand for pre-insulated pipes. Thus, driven by the surge in NZEB construction, the pre-insulated pipes market would grow to $9,597.9 million by 2024, from $5,568.5 million in 2018, at a 9.7% CAGR during forecast period. An important component of NZEBs, such pipes are designed to minimize heat gain or loss in the gas or liquid being ferried inside.

Such pipes can be laid above the ground as well as below it, of which utility and real estate firms generally go for the below-ground installation. This is because this way, they are naturally protected by extreme cold and heat, easy to lay even without less structural support, and require almost no aerial space. Additionally, they are ideal for transporting liquids or gases over long distances, which is highly desirable for centralized heating and cooling systems, which are increasingly becoming popular around the world.

Compared to individual heating and cooling units for each building, centralized or district heating and cooling (DHC) systems are more energy efficient and cost-effective in their operation. Another advantage of DHC systems is their ability to generate electricity with heat, thus killing two birds with one stone. The community also reaps several benefits, in the form of low electricity bills, as whatever power is extra, it can be utilized locally. Numerous nations, such as Canada, the U.S.,China, Japan, Russia, Germany,France, Iceland,and Denmark, account for significant DHC usage.

With time, fossil fuels are being replaced by cleaner ones, to fire up DHCs. According to the Global Energy Transformation: A Roadmap to 2050 report by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), by 2050, almost 77% of the electricity being used for DHC would come from renewable sources, primarily the sun, biomass, and geothermal energy,as against the meagre 9% in 2016. With governments putting in stringent regulations in place to up the share of renewable energy in the total electricity produced and used, DHC systems would become a lot cleaner in the coming years.

Around the world, North America has been the largest pre-insulated pipes market, on account of the significant usage of DHCs in the downtown areas of major Canadian and U.S. cities. Additionally, construction activities are picking up, and the oil and gas sector in the region is also recovering after the economic slowdown. In the coming years, the usage of such pipes would increase the fastest in Europe, mainly on account of the several policies launched by the European Union to make buildings energy efficient, including the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and Long-term Renovation Strategies (LTRS).

Therefore, to minimize heat loss and gain, so that electricity is not wasted in achieving the same, pre-insulated pipes are gaining widespread adoption.