Consultation on expanding EU heat pump use aims to tackle skills and cost challenges preventing European nations from reducing demand for fossil fuels in heating and cooling.
The EU has identified effective collaboration between its members as being a crucial requirement to better decarbonise cooling and heating demand across Europe. The comments have been made in a recently launched consultation that is focused on accelerating the pace of heat pump adoption in Europe.
A new EU-wide action plan is expected to be created through the consultation to address some of the main barriers to decarbonise heat. Feedback on the proposals will be accepted until 26 May with an aim to address some of the skills and cost challenges that are seen as preventing European nations from reducing demand for fossil fuels as a source of cooling and heat.
The EU said in its consultation that that nearly half of energy currently consumed in the EU was estimated to be used for the purposes of heating and cooling. Over 70 per cent of this demand is being met through fossil fuels at present – predominantly from natural gas.
Heat pumps were identified in the consultation as having a critical role to play as a replacement for natural gas boilers at the end of their life. At the same time, the EU noted that these same systems have important potential for addressing cooling demand as well. This potential has been noted in several important EU environmental commitments such as the REPowerEU plan that has committed to the installation of 30 million new heat pumps across EU member states by 2030 when compared to 2020.
The consultation stated: “To help reduce fossil gas and oil use, the REPowerEU plan supports a faster uptake of individual heat pumps in buildings and of large-scale heat pumps in district heating and cooling networks. This translates into the objective to install at least 10 million additional heat pumps by 2027.”
The same consultation has committed to outline fresh local, national and EU-level measures that can be taken to expand the industry’s capacity for installing heat pumps as a source of heating and cooling.
It added: “Decarbonising heating and cooling and accelerating the roll-out of heat pumps across buildings, heating networks and industry cannot be sufficiently achieved by Member States alone and requires complementary action at EU level to ensure consistency of shared objectives and political commitment.”