By virtue of its relationship with Heat Roadmap Europe (HRE) which began at the COP23, AER would like to invite its member regions to attend a workshop on “unlocking the decarbonising potential in heating and cooling”. Heating and cooling systems are at the forefront of energy policy-making at all levels of government. In improving the efficiency and sustainability of heating and cooling systems, regions stand to reduce energy costs and emissions while increasing their energy security.
The workshop will provide scientific evidence for different decarbonisation pathways in Europe through presentations on scenario building and energy system analysis. By outlining multiple future pathways in the energy transition through scenario building, attendees will gain a better understanding of the role different technologies can play in each pathway. Scenario building will also give an overview of the costs and benefits of the EU energy system in different situations.
The workshop will take place on Friday March 16th from 08:45 to 14:00 at the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam (NL). The workshop’s agenda can be accessed here. Contact Noah Conrad (n.conrad@aer.eu) should you wish to participate.
A Range of Tools from HRE
For those unable to attend the workshop, HRE is holding a series of webinars of various topics from March to December with a summer break in the middle. The free webinars are held once every two weeks and can be accessed using an internet browser. Topics include: energy savings potentials in buildings and the importance of low-temperature heat demands, and current and future cooling demands.
While the decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems are a hot topic in Europe, data enabling and facilitating tools are rarely available for free. With the results from HRE’s Pan-European Thermal Atlas, regions can receive assistance in the assessment of heating and cooling demands, and efficiency and supply across European regions. Their latest publication, Peta4 supplies regions with specific heating and cooling demand data for infrastructure development costs, and pinpoints the location of renewable energy and excess heat sources. It also helps identify potential Heat Synergy Regions in order to accelerate modern district heating and cooling solutions.
Heat Roadmap Europe 4 (HRE4) is a Horizon 2020 funded research project, with a consortium of 23 partners. Its aim is to study the heating and cooling sectors in Europe by quantifying the effects of increased energy efficiency on supply and demand in terms of energy consumption, and environmental impacts and costs. HRE4 combines thermal mapping and energy system analysis to show the impact that heating and cooling has on energy systems.
Photo Credits: Peter Hessels, Flickr
