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:
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 …
The Dutch approach to transforming the heating sector
How can the Netherlands organise the transformation towards a renewable district heating sector and what role will monopoly suppliers play in this process? Finding answers to these questions was the aim of a workshop organised by the Energie-Nederland and Euroheat & Power trade associations. The event, held in The Hague …
Where you can meet renewable heating specialists over the next six months
The European Green Deal has been the new EU Commission’s most striking announcement to date. Its aim is to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent in the world by 2050. The commission announced it would propose a European Climate Act in the first 100 days of its term, which is …
UK: “Solar heat has fallen out of awareness against PV”
When the British Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) started in November 2011, solar thermal specialists all around Europe were enthusiastic about the implementation of a pure performance-based incentive for non-domestic applications. Unfortunately, the programme did not become the expected positive role model. After a peak in 2014, the number of applications …
Why was there such a drastic drop in the demand for solar water heaters in the UK?
The British Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for homeowners was a successful programme. Between 2014 and 2019, in total 47,641 homes received funding for renewable heating systems. After a good start with high demand for solar thermal solutions in 2014 and 2015 the number of applications declined dramatically, although residential solar …
Germany: “It makes sense to invest in renewable heating now”
The bill to implement Germany’s 2030 climate protection package was passed by the country’s parliament on 15 November 2019 and came into effect at the beginning of this year. It contains a wide variety of provisions that should support the implementation of the national climate action plan, which had already …
Cities crucial to clean energy transition
The first edition of the Renewables in Cities Global Status Report was published by REN21, France, at the end of 2019. In all, 380 people, mostly volunteers, contributed to this report, supplying data on the progress of the renewable energy transition across municipalities, including information on electric generation capacity, heating …
Solar Heat for Cities – brochure and infographics
Why is solar heat such a smart way to create sustainable communities? It improves energy security, keeps heat costs stable for at least 20 years and cuts air pollution in towns and cities. To encourage more mayors, local council members and municipal utilities to look into this cost-effective solution, researchers …
Highly efficient industrial solar heat showcase in southwest France
In mid-June, a start-up business inaugurated the largest industrial solar heat plant to date in France, a 4,213 m² (3.4 MWth) flat plate collector system, which supplies heat to the Condat paper mill in southwest of the country. Owned by the Lecta Group, the mill is one of the country’s …
