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:

Prefabricated Fresnel collectors used in Spanish SHIP plants

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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”

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?

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 …