EU cooling and heating debate calls for tailored regulations

The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) hosted a debate on 30 June organised by PubAffairs entitled “Heating and cooling in the Energy Union project: the challenges ahead for implementing an efficiency-based energy approach.”

The event, with over 200 registrations, brought together speakers from the European Commission, the Member State governments, industry, and academics to discuss energy efficiency and in particular the heating and cooling sector in the EU.

The director-general of EPEE, Andrea Voigt, opened the discussions, by saying: “EPEE has always strongly supported the principle of energy efficiency as a “first fuel”, and our industry is committed to developing energy efficient technologies and help reduce energy demand as per the objective in the EU Energy Union.”

She listed the four success factors which EPEE believes can bring about a sustainable and secure energy system in Europe namely:

• A holistic approach to ensure the effective use of energy;
• The implementation and enforcement of current legislation;
• A technology neutral approach and an equal focus on heating AND cooling;
• Consumer awareness to trigger investments in energy efficient solutions.

Other speakers addressed a range of crucial issues, many of which will feature in the European Commission’s forthcoming Strategy on Heating & Cooling.

These included public acceptance, consumer behaviour, different national cultures and problems related to a “one size fits all approach”, the role of producers and installers, oversizing of equipment, and the role of the EU.

The dynamic exchange on the podium was followed by an interactive Q&A between the debate’s participants.

“During the debate, it became clear that there is tremendous potential to greatly increase energy savings within the heating and cooling sector,” said Ms Voigt.

“The heating, cooling and refrigeration industry in Europe is ideally placed to make these savings a reality, but this requires the right regulatory conditions and the creation of suitable consumer incentives.”