“We have to change the way we eat and heat": Sustainable heating and cooling to pave the way towards phasing-out fossil fuels
– Press release –
Brussels, Wednesday 16 September 2020
EPEE, representing the heating and cooling industry in Europe, applauds the revised greenhouse gas emission reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today, as a major milestone towards carbon neutrality in 2050. With buildings representing 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, heating and cooling have a major role to play in achieving this target.
“We have to change the way we eat and heat", stated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union Speech today. At EPEE, we cannot agree more! Heating and cooling are crucial to achieve carbon neutrality and the good news is that technologies are readily available. At EPEE, we look forward to the systemic modernisation and support via #NextGenerationEU as announced by the European Commission this morning. It will be key for the broad deployment of these technologies – to achieve a sustainable cold chain for food and medicines, thermal comfort in our buildings and health and well-being for all”, said Andrea Voigt, Director General of EPEE.
Fossil fuels still represent around 80% of the final energy used for heating and cooling in Europe and contribute more than 70% to the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable heating and cooling can help to phase-out fossil fuels by reducing and decarbonising the energy used for heating via waste heat recovery from cooling, energy efficient electrification of heating and cooling and by providing flexibility to the grid for broad deployment of renewable energies.
“The Renovation Wave, the Energy System Integration Strategy and the review of climate and energy legislation such as the Renewable Energies Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive will provide major opportunities to pave the way towards sustainable heating and cooling. In parallel, it will be important to keep up ambition not only by increasing the greenhouse gas emission target, but also by revising the targets for renewable energies and energy efficiency accordingly”, Voigt concluded.
#CountOnCooling: More information about the contribution of sustainable cooling to achieving the EU’s energy and climate targets can be found at www.countoncooling.eu