Sound statistics on renewable energies are important in order to ascertain energy balances at the country level, being the essential basis for market analysis, successful policy-making and evaluation. Heat production is not usually metered, but can be crudely assessed on the basis of total capacityof the number of installed systems and an estimate of heat […]

It has been argued that a well-balanced set of focused, transparent and stable policies may be preferable for the successful deployment of renewable electricity, transport and heat technologies. The success of an individual policy depends on its design and the supporting levels of enforcement. In order to promote strong, substantial growth in each renewable sector, […]

Solar thermal: Spanish regulations The Barcelona Solar Thermal Ordinance was implemented in August 2000. It requires that at least 60% of hot water demand is met from solar thermal energy in all new buildings or buildings undergoing major renovation. The objective is for 100 000 m2 of solar thermal collector surface area to be installed […]

Different applications for which geothermal direct heat is used include ground heat pumps, bathing/ swimming, space heating (mostly provided by district heating), greenhouse and open-ground heating, industrial process heating, aquaculture pond heating and agricultural drying. There is also a very wide range of capacity factors (18 to >70%) for these uses. Consequently, the range in […]

Instruments Financial support and installation advice is provided through the Energy Saving Trust and Energy Efficiency Best Practice in Housing programme. Action Energy also provides information and advice for businesses on geothermal installations (EGEC, 2006). Carrot. In 2000 the Energy Crops Scheme, a 6-year grant scheme worth a total of €26.9 M (£17.9 M[91]) was […]

In order to illustrate "cost gaps" (Section 2), an overview of the costs involved to provide REHC services was undertaken. A similar methodology to estimate the costs of the energy delivered was applied for all technologies. To compare the costs of providing REHC energy services systems with similar services provided by conventional fuels (Table 5) […]

A lesson can be drawn from the German Market Incentive Program (MAP) and its fluctuating budget for renewable heating (Annex B4). The policy was successful in stimulating the market for solar thermal and was supported by the majority of the financial subsidies available under the programme. However, fluctuations in the available budget were reflected in […]

In June of 1993 the Danish government established the Biomass Agreement with the aim of expanding the use of biomass in centralized electricity and heat production. Utilities were obliged by this government decree to replace 6% of their coal consumption with straw and wood and hence CHP facilities had to purchase and utilize biomass as […]