The building heating and cooling sector is one of the most important energy consumers in the EU, accounting for around 30% of final energy consumption. Efforts to improve sustainability have not been sufficient. This is shown by the fact that the share of renewable energies (~23%) is significantly lower than in electricity generation (~38%). Targeted policy measures are therefore needed to accelerate the sector’s transition to low-carbon operation. To this end, district heating represents an important but underutilised alternative that could cover up to 50% of urban heat demand and offers the potential to improve the overall energy efficiency of the sector and increase the use of renewables and waste heat.
Green4HEAT will support the participating regions’ efforts towards sustainable district heating, by enabling them to improve territorial heat planning, streamline their policies to support the uptake of green technologies (such as heat pumps) and the deployment of state-of-the-art heat networks, and actively involve territorial stakeholders and citizens.
