European committee adopts report calling for a Green Heat target

BRUSSELS, Belgium, February 1, 2006 (Refocus Weekly)

The energy committee of the European Parliament has adopted a report which recommends countries set ambitious targets to increase the share of green heat technologies by 2020.

The Committee on Industry, Research & Energy adopted the Initiative Report on Renewable Heating & Cooling presented by German member of Parliament, Mechtild Rothe, by a vote of 39 to 0, with three abstentions. The report calls on the European Commission to propose a directive to promote heating and cooling from renewable energies, which would substantially contribute to increasing the security of the continent’s energy supplies and to reducing dependence on oil and natural gas.

“We expect that Rothe's Initiative Report will receive a similarly clear vote in the European Parliament's plenary and hope that the European Commission will soon present a Directive proposal,” says Raffaele Piria of the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation. The group expressed satisfaction with the vote despite a significant weakening of some issues in Rothe’s original text that was released late last year.

Targets for green heat should consider the current national shares of space conditioning and water heating, and the potential for solar thermal, earth energy / geothermal, and biomass in each country. The committee had debated the term ‘binding’ but a vote of 21 to 15 agreed to retain “binding targets” contained in the original version.

The report does not suggest that national support schemes be harmonized at the EU level, but it proposes to agree on general principles for support schemes to be adopted and a range of instruments such as tax breaks, financial incentives or regulatory measures. It also proposes measures to reduce the administrative barriers to the use of green heating and cooling.

ESTIF represents manufacturers and service providers in the solar thermal sector, and promotes acceptance for solar thermal as a key element for heating and cooling in Europe.


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