heat and cooling supply

Today, renewables provide 9.9 percent of U.S energy demand forheat supply, the main contribution coming from the use of biomass.The lack of district heating networks is a severe structural barrier tothe large-scale utilization of geothermal and solar thermal energy.Dedicated government support is required to ensure a dynamicdevelopment. In the Energy [R]evolution Scenario, renewablesprovide 69 percent of USA’s total heating demand by 2050.

Energy efficiency measures help to reduce the currently growingdemand for heating and cooling, in spite of improving living standards.
For direct heating, solar collectors, biomass/biogas as well asgeothermal energy replace fossil fuel systems.
A shift from coal and oil to natural gas in the remaining conventionalapplications will lead to a further reduction of CO2 emissions.

Institute DLR, Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, Department of Systems Analysis and Technology Assessment, Stuttgart, Germany
Ecofys BV, P.O. Box 8408, NL-3503 RK Utrecht, Kanaalweg 16-G

Regional Partners: OECD North America WorldWatch Institute; Greenpeace USA Latin America University of Sao Paulo; Greenpeace Brazil; OECD Europe European Renewable Energy Council; Transition Economies Vladimir Tchouprov Africa & Middle East Reference Project: “Trans-Mediterranean Interconnection for Concentrating Solar Power” 2006; Greenpeace Mediterranean; South Asia Rangan Banerjee, Bangalore, India; Greenpeace India; East Asia ISEP-Institute Tokyo; Greenpeace South East Asia; China Prof. Zhang Xilian, Tsinghua University, Beijing; Greenpeace China; OECD Pacific ISEP-Institute Tokyo, Japan; Dialog Institute,Wellington, New Zealand; Greenpeace Australia Pacific; Greenpeace New Zealand