The Greens/EFA political group in the European Parliament organized a conference on 10th of May, on ‘Making the EU No. 1 in Renewable Energy’.

The initiative, aimed to contribute to a successful European energy transition towards a fully sustainable renewables-based economy, saw key actors discussing the challenges and opportunities provided by the new renewable directive.

After a first panel on market design, the second one centred on greening electricity, and had a section on ‘Electrifying the heating system: panacea or system non-sense?’. The panel started with a presentation of Dominik Seebach, Senior Researcher Energy & Climate Oko Institute, who stressed the fact that right now there is not enough RES-E to cover all heating sector, thus leading to the conclusion that an increased electrification of heating would increase carbon emissions for the power sector. Then, Jean Marc Jossart, AEBIOM Secretary General, and Thomas Nowak, EHPA Secretary General, debated the pros and cons of such scenario, including energy security, grid stability and decarbonisation issues. The moderator, MEP Claude Turmes, raised the issue of sustainability of biomass on one side, while warning against the massive deployment in the market (such as in France) of cheaper, low efficiency heat pumps.

To access the Greens webpage on the conference, please click here.