When it comes to Earth Day, conversations often center on renewable energy and reducing raw materials—but true sustainability goes far beyond solar panels and recycling bins. One of the most overlooked yet powerful ways to shrink our environmental footprint is by reclaiming something we already have in abundance: waste heat.
In this second installment of our 2025 Environmental Sustainability blog series, we’re diving into the surprisingly diverse world of heat reclamation—where compost piles, underground aquifers, industrial processes, and even your HVAC system can all become unexpected sources of clean, efficient energy.
Curious about how this is so? Read on to discover the technologies that turn excess heat into big savings—for both the planet and your wallet.
Compost Heat Recovery
Let’s start by discussing how we can turn trash into treasure!
Composting generates a significant amount of thermal energy – often reaching up to 65 degrees Celsius - which can be harnessed through direct conduction between the compost and buried pipes or through the hot air and vapor that is released during the process.
Around 63% of the heat generated by compost is contained in vapor. Some compost heat recovery options blow this vapor against a heat exchange system, allowing companies to use this recovered heat as an energy source, for heating water, or for ambient heating.
Compost heat recovery systems also have the additional benefit of reducing the risk of pollutants from compost entering adjacent water sources!
When working with compost, monitoring temperature, moisture, and carbon dioxide is required to reduce pathogen production and the attraction of insects and small mammals. Before the mid 2000’s, much of this monitoring was done manually, but now automated data collection reduces the potential for error.
Compost Heat Recovery systems capture thermal energy from compost piles. They monitor key data like pile temperature, heat exchanger performance, and water tank levels. This real-time data can be seamlessly integrated using OPC Router, a visually configured software tool with templates for scalability that enables fast communication between the industrial systems (PLC, SCADA, HMI, MES) managing compost operations and the business systems (ERP/SAP) overseeing the process. This edge to enterprise integration helps improve efficiency, reduce energy costs, and meet environmental goals with full operational visibility.
Geothermal
Geothermal energy creates electricity by extracting thermal energy in the Earth’s interior that is stored either in rock, hot liquid water, or trapped steam reservoirs in areas with significant amounts of tectonic activity. This energy can be captured from ambient or hydrothermal heat, two-phase aquifers, or conductive systems using a variety of techniques.
A unique advantage of geothermal energy is that it can reliably and continuously provide baseload power for various applications. And even when the temperature of the available resource is not high enough for energy generation, ambient heat can be used for direct use applications, including heating buildings and industrial food drying.
While all energy sources carry some environmental impact, one of the primary concerns with geothermal energy is the drilling process required to access underground heat. Using abandoned oil and gas wells or co-producing geothermal energy alongside active oil and gas wells that often encounter extremely hot water eliminates the need for new drilling, reducing the environmental and financial cost of both geothermal energy and energy from oil and gas. This is possible because the sedimentary rock formations commonly associated with oil and gas often also hold significant amounts of thermal energy. This type of co-production allows geothermal energy systems to be seamlessly integrated with existing oil and gas infrastructure.
Since both geothermal and oil and gas operations rely on a wide range of equipment for measurement, automation, and control, having a unified communications platform is essential for efficient data collection and system management. Software Toolbox’s TOP Server offers an Oil and Gas Suite, along with a broad selection of drivers, enabling users to standardize communications across diverse devices. For geothermal operations in remote and hard-to-reach areas—where communication can be especially slow—the TOP Server DNP3 Client Suite can provide reliable connectivity with RTUs and other field equipment, ensuring consistent and timely data access.
Combined Heat and Power Partnership (CHP)
CHP, or Combined Heat and Power Partnership, refers to systems that capture waste heat generated during electricity production and utilize it to provide thermal energy.
Heat can additionally be recovered from various sources, such as exhaust gases, cooling water, processing waste, jacket cooling systems, organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems, thermoelectric generators, and heat pump systems.
CHP systems can enhance heating efficiency, reduce fuel consumption, and supply heat to ambient heating systems.
In this use case, a German R&D firm's project aimed at optimizing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems, OPC Data Logger was instrumental in collecting and storing data from diverse OPC-enabled devices into a SQL database for a six-month period. This robust data collection enabled the firm to analyze and develop models for enhancing CHP technology, demonstrating OPC Data Logger's critical role in process optimization and energy efficiency initiatives.
Heat Pumps
There are two primary types of heat pumps: ground source and air source. Both types are suitable for both small and large systems but are primarily used in residential applications.
Heat pumps use vapor compression to transfer heat from either the air or the ground, relying on a refrigerant as the heat transfer medium. This process significantly reduces the need for traditional fuel sources, leading to greater energy efficiency. Heat pumps are also commonly paired with renewable energy systems—such as solar panels—to further minimize environmental impact and enhance sustainability.
In most cases, heat pumps represent the most efficient way to utilize any energy source for heating buildings, requiring a fraction of the energy of other heating options. Recent advancements in air source heat pumps have further improved their efficiency, making them effective in all but the most extreme temperatures. And in those cases, ground source heat pumps can still be used. Nationally, the widespread adoption of heat pumps could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector by 36% to 64%, depending on the efficiency of the heat pumps and the energy sources used.
In environments where pumps and motors come from a variety of manufacturers and use different drives and controllers, a solution like TOP Server is essential for establishing reliable communication, collecting data, and making sure that information is available for operational use. When non-standard or proprietary protocols are involved, OmniServer adds further value by enabling seamless integration and data transfer to the software platforms that depend on it—ensuring no critical information is left behind.
As you can see, heat reclamation offers a wide range of practical solutions for reducing energy consumption and creating an environmental impact. While it may not get as much attention as other sustainability strategies, its potential is just as powerful—and often easier to implement than you might think with the right technology in place. Whether you're an individual looking to make smarter choices or a company striving for greener operations, tapping into waste heat is a step worth exploring. Stay tuned for more insights in our 2025 Environmental Sustainability blog series—and if you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s the perfect time to join the journey toward a more sustainable future.
