ABSTRACT
Heating alone is responsible for almost half of the EU’s final energy consumption, and renewable energy sources like solar thermal, biomass and geothermal energy can make a huge contribution, resulting in substantial savings of gas, oil and electricity, and in greenhouse gas emission reductions. Renewable heating is the heat provided from renewable energy sources, including solar thermal, biomass heat and geothermal energy. Renewable cooling is the renewable fraction of the cooling provided through thermally driven cooling machines based on solar and/or biomass energy, as well as the renewable fraction of cooling obtained directly from the ground or the sea water. The use of heat from co-generation devices and of waste heat from industrial processes is considered renewable if the original energy source is renewable (sustainable biomass or geothermal energy). Fossil fuel-based co-generation or waste heat of fossil origin are not renewable, though their use is certainly desirable within a strategy for energy efficiency. Until recently, Renewable Heating and Cooling (RES-H&C) has received little political attention and in most EU member states there is not yet a comprehensive approach to support RES-H&C. This is particularly striking in view of the fact that around 48 per cent of the EU’s final energy consumption is used for the generation of heat, compared to 32 per cent for transport and 20 per cent for electricity, making the heating sector a neglected giant.
