Policy

June 26, 2020
“Total fossil lockdown for a climate revolution”

The new Renewables 2020 Global Status Report is calling for a “total fossil lockdown” to bring about a “climate revolution”. It also includes a warning: “Progress in the power sector is only a small part of the picture and it is eaten up as the world´s energy hunger continues to increase,”...
May 30, 2020
Austrian solar initiative to benefit from Covid-19 recovery plan

Solar thermal manufacturers and resellers based in Austria are coping well with the economic crisis brought on by the global Covid-19 pandemic. A survey Austria Solar conducted among its members found that more than half of the 16 businesses that responded had gained new orders under these...
May 15, 2020
Map shows solar thermal potential of buildings in Bern

Municipalities play a major role in the transition to a clean energy economy. Bern, Switzerland‘s capital, is a good example of this. Since a narrow majority of 50.1 % of the voting population rejected an amendment to the Canton of Bern’s energy act in February 2019, the municipal council...
May 5, 2020
Green hydrogen and the associations’ point of view

Green hydrogen is being heavily discussed in the centres of power in Europe – Brussels and Berlin: The European Commission is working on a Clean Hydrogen Alliance while the German government is debating its national hydrogen strategy. Recent statements by multiple trade associations show...
March 17, 2020
Munich strengthens its climate targets

As part of the most recent Fridays for Future protests in late November 2019, a huge crowd of young people gathered in the centre of Munich in southeast Germany, calling for more climate action. Barely three weeks later, the city council responded to their demands by declaring a state of...
March 6, 2020
Large gap between targets and installed solar heat capacity in Europe

According to a Eurostat press release published on 23 January, renewable energy sources made up 18 % of total energy generation throughout the European Union at the end of 2018, which means the EU’s target of 20 % by the end of 2020 seems well within reach. And yet, the above chart shows...
February 28, 2020
Possible, but tricky: carbon pricing in the building sector

Whether to include the building sector in the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) was one of the key questions discussed at a workshop in Brussels in late January. Representatives from industry associations said at the event, organised by the European Heating Industry (EHI) association,...
February 12, 2020
Energy spatial plans ban fossil fuel heating in Vienna

Austria’s capital Vienna is one of several European cities that have announced wide-ranging plans to tackle climate change. In 2014, its council published a framework strategy, called Smart City Wien, which aims for a 35 % reduction in local per-capita greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and...
January 27, 2020
Where you can meet renewable heating specialists over the next six months

The European Green Deal has been the new EU Commission’s most striking announcement to date. Its aim is to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent in the world by 2050. The commission announced it would propose a European Climate Act in the first 100 days of its term, which is why...
November 18, 2019
First district cooling regulation in the MENA region

Abu Dhabi now has its first comprehensive regulatory standard on district cooling. It is based on Act No. 11, which was passed in 2018 and put the responsibility for regulating the district cooling sector on the newly founded emirate’s Department of Energy. Following extensive consultations...
October 23, 2019
Green heat policies in China benefit heat pumps

Several provinces in northern China have implemented green heat policies to avoid air pollution from coal boilers. Beijing was the first province to create a policy in 2016 and others, such as Hebei and Shan Xi, then followed suit. Heat sources and technologies recognised as renewable in...
March 28, 2019
Rising demand for solar thermal in Uzbekistan

Techno Future, which is part of the Uzbekistan-based Artel Group, has been satisfied with sales in its first year after starting production in 2017. Bahodir Karimov, Deputy Managing Director of Techno Future, said that the company had manufactured 10,000 collectors, sold under the Royal...