Brussels, 12/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - Heating and cooling systems are key components in the design of the new energy market and this sector must be modernised to make more use of renewable energy and new technologies, states the draft resolution prepared by Adam Gierek (S&D, Poland) on the EU strategy for heating and cooling that was adopted by the European Parliament's energy committee on Tuesday 12 July.
MEPs call on the Commission to consider the heating and cooling sector as a crucial element in the re-design of the European energy market, assigning to it the following key priorities: high energy efficiency; high-performance thermal insulation; reducing energy demand and costs for consumers; contributing to alleviating energy poverty; creation of qualified local jobs; use of renewable energy sources and heat recovery.
They believe that eco-design and energy labelling legislation and the directives on energy efficiency and the energy performance of buildings can greatly complement one another in reducing heating and cooling consumption.
The Commission should, therefore, do more to raise awareness among consumers of often low performance of their installed heating systems and to increase the modernisation rate of existing heating and cooling systems as part of the forthcoming revision of the directive on the energy performance of buildings, taking account of the introduction of an energy labelling system for installed heating systems, MEPs say.
In the view of the energy committee, district energy networks can provide a more efficient alternative to individual heating systems and a larger share of renewable energy sources should be built into these networks. MEPs encourage member states to put in place tax and financial mechanisms for the development and use of urban heating and cooling systems.
In addition, MEPs stress that, in densely populated urban areas, inefficient and unsustainable individual heating-cooling systems should gradually be replaced with efficient systems or modernised with cutting edge technologies in order to move to high-efficiency local cogeneration systems and renewable alternatives. And they call for the phasing out of subsidies for the use of fossil fuels in the heating and cooling sector.
MEPs call on the Commission to better integrate smart technologies in relevant energy union initiatives to ensure real interconnectivity of smart appliances, connected homes and smart buildings with smart grids.
These are solutions that should be promoted when existing buildings are being renovated because they help consumers better understand their usage patterns and to adjust their heating system accordingly, MEPs say.
The Commission proposed its heating-cooling strategy as part of its package on gas security, tabled at the end of February (EUROPE 11491). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)