Many people have been campaigning for ages to get heating and cooling on the political agenda. For a long time ‘renewables’ were just the equivalent of power from biomass, wind turbines or solar cells. A Directive for power from renewables was in place since 2001, but a heating and cooling Directive was still lacking. However, there is still a world to win in the sector of heating and cooling, responsible for almost half of all energy demand in the EU.

Too many opportunities have been missed in the last years. Think for instance of the missing insulation in all these draughty houses across Europe. Think also of the large amounts of heat that goes wasted in power plants. And think also of the untapped potential for solar thermal in new buildings. Solar thermal devices are very effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasingly price competitive in the current market.

Of course there is a reason why a Directive on this issue was awaited for so long. While the power sector is neatly organised, heating and cooling need quite a different approach. While the power sector can be approach at national level, low-carbon heating and cooling will have a more local and regional dimension.

Following the Directive, in the next decades, large steps will be made. Smart combinations of heat and power, district heating, energy efficiency and renewables have the power to unlock the potential in the heating and cooling sector.

Rolf de Vos
Editor in chief
GreenPrices
r.devos@greenprices.com