EPEE welcomes the Commission’s Strategy for Energy System Integration
– Press release –
EPEE is welcoming the European Commission’s published proposal for the Energy
System Integration Strategy, recognising the need to create an overall
framework which maximises the cost-effective uptake of renewables in the energy
system.
Heating and cooling represent
approximately 50% of the total final energy consumption in the EU, and 80% of it
is still based on burning fossil fuels – especially in case of heating. To
ensure a move away from fossil fuels, it is crucial to reduce the energy
consumption for heating and cooling and to further increase the share of
renewables. In short, the strategy needs to address how to integrate the design
of energy supply systems (supply side) with the design of energy using systems
(demand side). Buildings are a key element of the energy infrastructure, and
heating and cooling need to be at the core of long-term energy system planning.
Andrea Voigt, EPEE Director General, said: “To decarbonise heating
and cooling we need an integrated approach, where heating and cooling are
considered as two sides of the same coin. Heat pumps for example offer an excellent
opportunity by providing energy efficient heating and cooling with renewable
energy. Waste heat recovery is another way of using energy more efficiently.
Demand side management and thermal storage solutions can provide further flexibility
to the grid to support the transition to renewable energies.”
EPEE’s position on heating and cooling in the Strategy for Energy System Integration can be read here.
EPEE’s approach to sustainable cooling can be viewed as a video here and read here.