Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) accesses the stable temperature of groundwater to warm buildings in winter and cool them in summer. The solution uses much less power than conventional heating and cooling systems. As Daisy Chi at ECECP explains, ATES first took off in China in the 1960s but ran into problems with the required circulation of the groundwater. However, the technology has been developed and optimised in the Netherlands: of the … [Read more...]
Residential energy use: “interventions” that alter daily habits vs top-down regulations
Getting people to change their behaviour is part of the net-zero plan, with residential energy consumption at 20% of total energy demand. How big a part can it play, and how quickly? Traditional methods like economic incentives and providing consumers with raw consumption data don’t always get the results expected. Here, Elisabetta Cornago at the IEA describes behavioural “interventions” that alter daily habits, are cheaper than large-scale … [Read more...]
Super-efficient space cooling can mitigate 0.5°C of warming by 2100
Space cooling eats up 10% of global electricity use, and by 2050 total energy consumed could triple as ownership takes off in developing countries. It’s why the Global Cooling Prize was launched to find AC designs that will have an 80% lower climate impact, explains John Matson at RMI. The two main design goals were to reduce electricity demand, and use refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) than traditional refrigerant gases. The … [Read more...]
“China and Europe – Energy Efficiency, the foundation of our net-zero future” [EVENT highlights and VIDEO]
We present the videos of the third of our three, 4-session workshops on the opportunities for European energy solutions providers to take part in China’s energy transition, held on April 13th and 14th 2021. In this workshop the theme was efficiency, with special reference to finance, buildings, heating and cooling, and smart solutions. Both regions need to go beyond the efficiency "easy wins" so we take a close look at what Europe can offer as … [Read more...]
Cooling: up-front costs are the barrier to new solutions that cut energy use by two-thirds
Existing, latest technology could be delivering the world’s current air conditioning needs with just a third of the energy use, say Sneha Sachar at the AEEE (India) and Iain Campbell at RMI. The main barrier is the up-front costs. And that’s for everything from improving the thermal efficiency of buildings to accelerating the deployment of the most efficient cutting edge ACs (at present, legal minimums lag behind the best ACs, and the best ACs … [Read more...]
Developing world urbanisation: a great opportunity for smartgrids, buildings efficiency
Rapid urbanisation in the developing world means millions of new buildings are going up. Now is the time to make sure they are energy efficient from the start, avoiding the major “rich world” headache of retrofitting. Given most of the developing world exists in hotter climates, cooling – unchecked - could account for as much as 40% of final electricity demand in some countries by 2050. To keep a cap on that, efficient buildings and air … [Read more...]
EXCLUSIVE: Geothermal could represent a far bigger share of renewables
The IEA says geothermal energy could account for only 3.5% of annual global electricity production and 3.9% of energy for heat (excluding ground source heat pumps) by 2050. But is this down to short term thinking? Geothermal could make a much bigger contribution to renewables, provided it is put onto the fast track like wind and solar, says Alexander Richter, President of the International Geothermal Association. … [Read more...]
Too “low-hanging fruit” is not sweet enough (and eventually neither clean nor cheap)!
At a lunch debate organised by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) on “The costs of a low level of ambition in greening the heating and cooling sector” and hosted by EUFORES President MEP Jeppe Kofod on 30 January, representatives from industry, civil society, the European Commission (EC) and MEPs from several countries and political groups (Jeppe Kofod, Bendt Bendtsen, Theresa Griffin, Jo Leinen, Gesine Meissner and Paul RĂĽbig) … [Read more...]
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