The need for speed | EUSEW 2021

by Harry Verhaar Head of Global Public & Government Affairs and Chairman of the board of the European Alliance to Save Energy.

In this climate-critical decade, Europe is faced with the extraordinary task of drastically improving our environmental impact, while also repairing economies left shaken by the effects of COVID-19. Now is not the time to split our priorities: the actions we take to mitigate climate change and those we take to accelerate economic recovery must work both in harmony and at pace.

Both effectively and economically, energy efficiency improvements are the best strategy at our disposal for a swift reduction in carbon emissions. With buildings accounting for 40% of energy consumed and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the European Commission’s Renovation Wave strategy gives us an excellent foundation on which to start.

Everything that can be done to improve the footprint of our buildings, should be done: insulation, modern heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technology, and digital solutions like building management systems that can monitor and optimise energy expenditure. Among these key improvements, we should not forget one of the quickest wins: lighting. Two-thirds of installed lighting is legacy technology, with 1.3 billion conventional light points across Europe that could be switched to LED. Through this alone, the EU could save around EUR 40 billion and eliminate 100 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. This quick, simple, and low-cost intervention comes with relatively little disruption to the building’s occupiers, and the payback is fast.

Increasing renovation rate and depth will positively impact economic growth, investments, innovation and competitiveness, and lead to a reduced reliance on fossil fuels, in turn improving Europe’s energy security. And economically, the impact of building renovation will most benefit the local SMEs who make up more than 90% of companies in the building sector. Accelerated activity on this level creates jobs for those with displaced incomes due to the global pandemic.

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Monica Frassoni’s speech at launch of EASAC report “Decarbonisation of buildings for climate, health and jobs”

On 2 June 2021, the president of the European Alliance to Save Energy Monica Frassoni participated in the panel discussion for the launch of the report “Decarbonisation of buildings: for climate, health and jobs” by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC). 

Here are some excerpts from her speech:

  • The holistic approach of the study is great. There is no silver bullet for the decarbonization of buildings. We need several approaches and to enhance the use of existing technologies There is no time to invest in uncertain technologies. Efficiency measures in industry, buildings, appliances and transport already exist and can be put into effect and scaled up very quickly.
  • Energy Efficiency is an existing and certain technology. Energy Efficiency, intended as reducing energy demand and optimising consumption, is recognized but we didn’t notice anywhere in the report the specific reference to make “Energy Efficiency First” principle (EE1) a pillar of the EU future energy system.
  • The EE1 is needed to get all the non-energy related benefits of decarbonizing buildings, to alleviate energy poverty, to correctly size the RES supply required to match buildings residual energy demand, to improve the flexibility of buildings and their capacity to store energy, to phase out fossil fuels and avoid stranded assets as well as increase our energy security); The EE1 is instrumental to energy system integration and finally the principle is a driver for energy, resource/material efficiency and full application of circularity principle.

 

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EU-ASE at launch of EASAC Report on the Decarbonisation of Buildings

On 2 June 2021, the president of the European Alliance to Save Energy Monica Frassoni participated in the panel discussion for the launch of the report “Decarbonisation of buildings: for climate, health and jobs” by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC). The webinar gathered policy-makers, researchers and stakeholders to discuss the main findings of the report, offering recommendations for the EU, Member States and local authorities to activate the wave of buildings renovations. 

Among the panelists were representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as of the European Investment Bank, the Buildings Performance Institute Europe and Housing Europe.

Read experts of Monica’s speech at this event

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EU’s climate action does not need fossil distractions

Climate is high on the agenda of this week’s meeting with European Union heads of states and governments. What is not really certain is if the Council will manage to keep a united and determined front ahead of COP26 in Glasgow.

by Monica Frassoni, President of the European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE)

The problem the EU faces, as most other developed economies, is that behind climate ambitions and political declarations, the numbers do not add up. Too much time and resources are lost in the attempt to go around a basic reality that only a few days ago was clearly stated with no possibility of misunderstanding in the International Energy Agency’s new report, Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap: we need to stop investing in fossil fuels now.

That includes new gas pipelines, as well as grey and blue hydrogen. We must stop hiding behind the magic word ‘transition’ to prolong our still enormous dependence on natural gas, coal and oil. We need to invest and dedicate the massive amount of public resources that are available at all levels to help all of us to go green: this is no ethical issue. It is a sound economic, social and environmental choice, as it gives a real perspective to our industries and workers to stay competitive and to look to the future with trust. In other words, accelerating the green transformation is a very good news for Europe’s citizens, businesses and the environment.

In December 2020, in light of the EU’s commitment to increase its climate ambition in line with the Paris Agreement, EU leaders endorsed a common target to reduce the bloc’s net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990-levels by 2030 and confirmed the goal to become the first climate neutral region by 2050. This was a substantial step up from the previous 2030 target of cutting emissions by 40% and can be considered a result of pressure from scientific communities, public opinion and media to raise awareness and the sense of urgency on the major global risk represented by climate change.

 

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