Page 7 - AfrElec Week 48 2020
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AfrElec POLICY AfrElec
Urgent action needed to
decarbonise heating and cooling
GLOBAL HEATING and cooling based on renewable available to everyone, including to remote
energy has emerged as an urgent priority for islands and least-developed countries of Africa
countries striving to meet climate goals and build and Asia.”
resilient, sustainable economies. The demand for heating and cooling is set to
The transition to cleaner, more sustainable keep growing. Cooling demand has already tri-
heating and cooling solutions can attract invest- pled globally since 1990, and as climate change
ment, create millions of new jobs and help to increases the number and severity of heat waves,
drive a durable economic recovery in the wake so does the urgency of supplying air condition-
of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, ing and refrigeration to billions of people.
the IEA, IRENA and the Renewable Energy Policy makers have so far given limited atten-
Network for the 21st Century (REN21) said in tion to the heating and cooling transition. By the
a recent report. end of 2019, only 49 countries – mostly within
Heating and cooling demand accounts for the European Union – had national targets for
around half of global final energy consumption, renewable heating and cooling, in contrast
mostly for industrial processes, followed by resi- with 166 having targets for renewable power
dential and agricultural applications. generation.
Most of this energy now comes either from To decarbonise the energy used for heating
fossil fuels or inefficient, unsustainable uses of and cooling, aggressive and comprehensive pol-
biomass. Heating and cooling, consequently, is icy packages that phase out the use of fossil fuels
a major source of air pollution and accounts for and prioritise renewable energy and efficiency
over 40% of global energy-related carbon diox- are even more urgent amid the COVID-19
ide (CO2) emissions. pandemic, which has cut demand for renewa-
At the same time, around 2.8bn people cur- bles-based heating and cooling services, includ-
rently rely on wood fuel, charcoal, animal dung ing in households and small businesses.
and other inefficient and polluting fuels for The health and economic crisis has also wors-
cooking. ened conditions for energy access in many devel-
“Energy-efficient heating and cooling based oping countries.
on renewable sources has emerged as an urgent Transitioning to renewable sources will help
priority for countries striving to meet climate to increase access to clean, affordable and relia-
commitments under the Paris Agreement and ble heating and cooling services, even on remote
to build resilient, sustainable economies,” said islands and in some of the least-developed coun-
IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera. tries of Africa and Asia.
“The transition to cleaner, more efficient and At the same time, renewable heating and
sustainable heating and cooling solutions can cooling can create new jobs, stimulate local
attract investments, create millions of new jobs economies, and improve people’s livelihoods,
and help to drive a durable economic recovery while strengthening countries’ energy security
in the wake of the global COVID-19 crisis. It will and independence, the report notes.
make much-needed heating and cooling services
Week 48 03•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7
