Policy

August 22, 2020
50 new solar hot water systems at Turkish prisons in three years

Turkey’s regulations on installing solar energy equipment in buildings with over 1,000 m2 of floor area has resulted in a growing number of centralised solar hot water systems in prisons over the last years. The above photo shows one of those installations, a 3,363 m² solar hot...
August 7, 2020
The best way to renovate Europe’s building stock

One area that requires immediate action, according to the European Commission’s Green Deal, is the renovation of the continent’s building stock. After all, the EU’s aim is to become climate neutral by 2050. Consequently, the commission has started public consultation on a new Renovation...
July 24, 2020
Region with high solar ambitions joins IEA SHC

One of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme’s new sponsors is SACREEE, the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, set up by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), an intergovernmental organisation. SADC represents a dynamically developing solar thermal region...
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...