Based in Brussels, the International Copper Association (ICA) Europe is the leading advocate for the copper industry in Europe. As ICA’s European branch, the organisation represents companies that mine, smelt and recycle copper for use across the economy, in the electricity system, buildings, transport and industry. Through a team of policy, industry and scientific experts, ICA Europe promotes copper as an essential material for achieving the EU’s ambition of a resilient, climate-neutral Europe and seeks to ensure that EU policies enable the sustainable production of copper to serve Europe’s future needs.
Solarthermalworld.org was initiated by ICA Europe in 2008 with the aim of providing stakeholders from research, public and private sector all around the globe with first-class information about solar heating and cooling to stimulate market growth. The ICA Europe has supported the hosting of the website until 2021 as well as the content gathering continuously since 2008.
Please see below our most recent articles:
Green hydrogen and the associations’ point of view
Green hydrogen is being heavily discussed in the centres of power in Europe – Brussels and Berlin: The European Commission is working on a Clean Hydrogen Alliance while the German government is debating its national hydrogen strategy. Recent statements by multiple trade associations show that there are diverging views on …
Climate neutrality will become binding EU target
The European Commission’s implementation plan for Europe’s Green Deal is moving forward in spite of the Covid-19 virus outbreak. The Directorate-General for Climate Action published its proposal for a European Climate Law, including regulations on how to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, in early March, within the expected time frame …
World’s largest flat plate collector manufacturers in 2019
One-half of the world’s largest flat plate collector manufacturers participating in the most recent survey expressed satisfaction with how business developed in 2019. One-third achieved production volumes ‘as expected’ and only one-fifth seemed dissatisfied. The large manufacturers again managed to increase production by, on average, 9 %, a slightly higher …
Munich strengthens its climate targets
As part of the most recent Fridays for Future protests in late November 2019, a huge crowd of young people gathered in the centre of Munich in southeast Germany, calling for more climate action. Barely three weeks later, the city council responded to their demands by declaring a state of …
Prefabricated Fresnel collectors used in Spanish SHIP plants
Ecotherm, an Austrian provider of steam and heat transfer solutions, is now offering concentrating solar systems based on the Linear Fresnel collector technology that it acquired from its former business partner Fresnex. The latter had to go into administration in August 2019 because it could no longer secure enough funding …
Large gap between targets and installed solar heat capacity in Europe
According to a Eurostat press release published on 23 January, renewable energy sources made up 18 % of total energy generation throughout the European Union at the end of 2018, which means the EU’s target of 20 % by the end of 2020 seems well within reach. And yet, the …
High scrappage bonus for oil boilers
Germany has seen growing demand for solar energy and other renewable heating solutions since the beginning of this year. On 1 January, the country’s Market Rebate Programme, also known as MAP, started offering large incentives for getting rid of old heating systems. It made grants of 40 % of the …
Webinar series presents cost-effective industrial solar heat solutions
Since the beginning of this year, Ata Insights has been running a monthly series of webinars about solar industrial heat (SHIP). The third webinar, titled Opportunities for solar heat in Europe, will be held at 12:00 CET on 19 March. The aim of this series is to illustrate the huge …
Possible, but tricky: carbon pricing in the building sector
Whether to include the building sector in the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) was one of the key questions discussed at a workshop in Brussels in late January. Representatives from industry associations said at the event, organised by the European Heating Industry (EHI) association, that governments should remain in charge …
SDH prefeasibility studies for Serbian cities
Renewable district heating has become a hot topic in Serbia. The conference Renewable Energy Sources in District Heating and Cooling, held at the same time as the 50th International HVAC&R Congress and Exhibition in early December in Belgrade, attracted more than 400 attendees and featured prominently in the media. The …
Energy spatial plans ban fossil fuel heating in Vienna
Austria’s capital Vienna is one of several European cities that have announced wide-ranging plans to tackle climate change. In 2014, its council published a framework strategy, called Smart City Wien, which aims for a 35 % reduction in local per-capita greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an 80 % cut …
Role of life-cycle costs in NZEB projects
How much does it cost to construct, run and maintain a Nearly Zero Energy Building? What energy efficiency and renewable options could work best for a given project? Answering these and other questions is the aim of CRAVEzero.eu, a new, interactive online platform. It supports architects and planners during the …
