15 EU countries have published a joint working paper calling on the European Commission to prioritize the decarbonisation of heating and cooling processes to increase the EU's energy independence and meet its climate targets. Euractiv.
Key actions the 15 countries have asked the Commission to take include publishing the long-awaited action plan on heat pumps and revising the EU's 2016 heating and cooling strategy, aligning it with the forthcoming 2040 climate targets.
"The EU should develop a concrete plan to rapidly increase the use of various renewable energy technologies such as solar thermal plants, heat pumps and especially large-scale industrial heat pumps to be integrated into district heating systems," the document sent to the Commission states.
According to the signatory member states, such a strategy would make an important contribution to Europe's energy security.
Heating and cooling is one of the main energy-intensive sectors in Europe
According to the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC), replacing 30 million individual fossil fuel boilers in residential homes with heat pumps would reduce gas and oil consumption in the EU by 36%.
Aurelie Beauvais, managing director of Euroheat & Power, summarized in a press release that
"accelerating the scale of efficient clean heat solutions such as district heating and cooling is the best industrial strategy to maintain leadership in these high-tech value technologies, while strengthening security of supply in the EU."
For its part, the European Commission stated that
"an action plan on heat pumps is currently being prepared, which has been the subject of intensive stakeholder engagement."
At this stage, the exact timetable for the plan has not yet been determined.
The EU has already updated its regulatory framework for clean heating solutions over the past five years under the auspices of the Green Deal. New directives have been adopted on the energy performance of buildings, energy efficiency and renewable energy.