The European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen started its mandate on the good foot when it comes to energy efficiency policies. It must now think about its legacy and hold firm on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which is coming under attack from Eurosceptics in Italy and elsewhere, says Monica Frassoni.
The biggest potential for short-term energy demand reduction lies with industrial consumers, says Francesco Venturini. Those savings can be tapped with programmes that reward businesses who adapt their demand to energy supply, he argues.
A properly insulated home will allow heat pumps to deliver their "magic trick" – a 400% efficiency rating over the 90% figure observed for fossil gas boilers. Yet, these efficiency gains will not materialise unless homes are heat-pump ready, says David Ducarme.
The energy demand-response market is moving to the mainstream, thanks to the rise of electric vehicles and the massive growth in power consumption from data centres, which can provide flexibility to the electricity grid in case of peak demand, two senior energy officials have told EURACTIV.com.
Subsidising energy bills to cushion the blow of the energy crisis is an "enormous waste of money", according to Oliver Rapf. While it is necessary to shield consumers, EU countries should be looking at energy efficiency measures that create long-term improvements and help tackle the climate crisis, he argues.
The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) must ensure that EU member states take action in the short term and do not delay their efforts until the end of the decade, says the EU lawmaker responsible for drafting the European Parliament’s position on the draft legislation.
Lack of trust and information about energy performance contracts are the most frequently cited reasons why some municipalities have become sceptical about energy service companies (ESCOs). In the future, greater standardisation should help overcome issues, says Nick Keegan.
When it comes to energy regulations, the EU tends to legislate in silos, writing directives on renewables, energy efficiency or electricity and gas markets. But with the upcoming sector coupling strategy, it needs to do exactly the opposite, says Morten Petersen.
If Europe goes climate neutral, it will consume more flat glass, predicts Christian Quenett. And the benefits could be huge: simply doubling the replacement rate of windows, in line with the European Green Deal, would achieve 20% of the EU’s energy efficiency targets for 2030, he says.
Companies and lawmakers must take more responsibility in helping to solve issues related to buildings, including reducing carbon emissions and improving health standards, according to Velux CEO David Briggs.
The Yellow Vest movement has actually boosted France's ambition to be a building renovation champion as it positioned the economy front and centre in the debate, the government's 'co-pilot' for the project told EURACTIV.
Wind and solar photovoltaic are way too small to cope with Europe's massive demand for heating, especially in winter, says Christian Holter who calls for allocating scarce renewable energy resources to economic sectors where they can bring the most in terms of carbon reduction.
The European gas industry is on the cusp of a green revolution similar to the one that took place in the electricity sector, with a greater variety of low-carbon gases feeding into the grid at the local level, says Jean-Marc …
As the European Union turns the page on a series of clean energy laws focused on electricity, attention is now turning to decarbonisation in the gas sector, with an upcoming gas package expected in 2020. And the power sector intends to play a central role there too.
Renewable energy will rewrite the geopolitical map, according to the man tasked with taking clean energy global. Adnan Z. Amin also told EURACTIV that any politicians not worried by the “truly frightening” risks of climate change are not in the right job.
The volume of solar panels and electric cars connected to the grid is still manageable for now. But massive new load expected from electric vehicles in the coming years will require stepping up network digitalisation, warns Serge Colle.
Emissions from residential heating can be drastically reduced if Europe agrees a ban on new oil and gas boiler installations by 2030 at the latest, according to a Danish researcher who led an EU-wide study to decarbonise the heating and cooling sector.
Vienna’s energy and infrastructure utilities say the Commission’s long-term strategy unveiled this week is in line with own their forecasts and goals.
Whether it’s for heating their swimming pools or to power their air conditioning systems and home appliances, regulated electricity prices “give the greatest potential benefit to richer households” who consume the largest amounts of energy, says Klaus-Dieter Borchard.
With growing shares of renewable energies added to the system, the dynamic pricing of electricity becomes even more important in order to provide flexibility on the demand side, says Pierre Tardieu. This is why regulated energy prices can only slow the pace of the energy transition, he argues.
Artificially low energy prices in France are one of the reasons why former state monopoly EDF loses money, says Thomas Pellerin-Carlin. Moreover, regulated prices are useless to protect vulnerable consumers from energy poverty and “almost never leads to low energy bills,” he argues.
Nearly half of Europe’s energy is used up by buildings but new rules adopted by the EU earlier this year wants to inject efficiency en masse into the sector and improve massively the edifices in which we live and work. EURACTIV spoke with the lawmaker behind the new legislation.
Distributed energy solutions such as solar PV, batteries, and smart controls are getting cheaper by the day and will soon outperform traditional energy sources such as coal, gas, and nuclear power, says Hervé Touati. In any case, Blockchain-type solutions will be needed for the mass deployment of electric vehicles, he warns.
The energy performance contract model can turn energy efficiency renovation of buildings into a truly popular policy objective among politicians in Central and Eastern Europe because it can be done without any use of public money and has no impact on public debt, says Ivan Lesay.
