Following the European Summit of 22 May where EU leaders confirmed that national and European energy efficiency policies are needed to achieve affordable and sustainable energy supplies, COGEN Europe urges the European Commission to give energy efficiency the position it deserves in the upcoming post 2020 framework.
 

Heads of State from the European Union met last week to deepen discussions on economic policy taxation and energy and energy efficiency unsurprisingly came first in President Van Rompuy’s debrief stating that “there is still a huge potential [for energy efficiency]. After all, the cheapest, cleanest and safest energy is the one not consumed!”.
 

In that very same meeting, the European Council also gave its assent to the European Commission for advancing the work on a post 2020 framework for climate and energy policies with further discussion to return at the highest political level in March 2014.
 

“While the conclusions of the European Council meeting are supportive of energy efficiency in general, they fall short of drawing a clear way forward on the matter. There is a clear link between the competitiveness of the European economy and the energy efficiency agenda and it is up to the European Commission to bolster formally this link by putting strong energy efficiency objectives in the 2030 energy and climate policies framework” commented Fiona Riddoch, Managing Director of COGEN Europe.
 

COGEN Europe, will submit its comments on the 2030 Green Paper in the coming weeks.

 

For more information please contact:
Dr Fiona Riddoch, Managing Director
Tel: +32 2 772 8290
Fax: + 32 2 772 5044
Email: fiona.riddoch@cogeneurope.eu

 

 

Cogeneration (also known as CHP or Combined Heat and Power) involves the simultaneous production of heat and electricity from a single plant which results in massive savings to the economy of primary energy and consequential reductions of GHG emissions.
Today, a significant 11.7 % of Europe’s electricity is generated using a vast array of proven and cost effective techniques (cumulative capacity > 100 GWe). About half of the heat produced is used in district heating network while the remaining half serves industrial needs. Cogeneration units can be found in various sectors and sizes: in industries, households and tertiary buildings and in capacities ranging from a kilowatt to hundreds of MegaWatts electricity output. CHP plants can draw upon a wide range of energy sources, from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energies (combustion-based units with biomass, biogases or bioliquids, or steam-based plant connected to geothermal or concentrated solar panel installations) that make them ready to the future energy system.
Realising the identified economic potential for cogeneration in Europe –estimated at 110-120 GWe additional- will be instrumental to reaching our strategic climate and energy goals, while underpinning job creation and being an engine to industrial competitiveness.