A coalition of industry associations and NGOs have issued a call to the European Commission for immediate action on the decarbonisation of heating and cooling.

Referring to the absence of heating and cooling in the February 6 communication on the 2040 climate target as an “oversight in plain sight”, the 18 signatories to a joint statement have called for “a robust post-2030 framework to accelerate the decarbonisation and reduction of heating and cooling demands”.

The 2040 communication rightly identifies the significant CO2 abatement potential of the building and industrial sectors, which represent respectively 42% and 25.6% of the EU final energy consumption and remain heavily dependent on fossil-fuel use, they state.

However, unfortunately it fails to address the much-needed decarbonisation of heating and cooling, Europe’s largest energy consuming sector, representing 80% of buildings’ energy consumption and 60% of industries’ total energy needs.

“We write to emphasise the need to prioritise heating and cooling decarbonisation, phasing out fossil fuels, in full coordination with the rollout of the energy efficiency first principle, in the upcoming post-2030 framework.”

They continue that in the EU, the potential of sustainable renewable and recovered heat sources alone is significant – estimated at more than 2,000TWh/year, exceeding the total projected heat demand by 2050 – and remains largely untapped.

The statement points to the need for targeted actions to finance energy efficiency, sustainable renewable and recovered heat projects in the residential, tertiary and industrial sectors, scale up efficient heating and cooling solutions and renewable energy communities.

Integrated strategies must be developed for building renovations and heating and cooling decarbonisation.

Technology adoption must be facilitated not only for vulnerable consumers but for all citizens that have been severely impacted by inflation and the economic crisis.

“By speeding up the renovation of buildings and the replacement of fossil-fuel heating sources, the European Union will be putting flesh on the bones of the best possible industrial strategy: the one that provides a scalable market for all clean heat solutions, which are a flagship of European industry,” the statement concludes.

The 18 signatories to the statement are Bioenergy Europe, CEE Bankwatch, COGEN Europe, ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards, Energy Cities, Energy Performance of Buildings Centre, Euroheat & Power, European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EuroACE), European Biogas Association, European Environmental Bureau, European Federation of Citizen Energy Cooperatives (REScoop.eu), European Federation of Intelligent Energy Efficiency Services (EFIEES), European Geothermal Council (EGEC), European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE), European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA), Solar Heat Europe and Solar Impulse Foundation.

This article was originally published on Power Engineering International