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:
Controversial view of Germany’s renewable industrial heat subsidy scheme
Demand for subsidised renewable industrial heat in Germany has been growing significantly. The German subsidy scheme Energy Efficiency in Industry – Section 2 spent EUR 128 million in 2021, which was two and a half times more than the previous year’s EUR 50 million. In both years demand was dominated …
Greek factories: a new collector every 72 seconds
The Greek solar thermal industry is growing impressively and so are its factories. The annually produced collector area doubled from 540,000 m2 in 2014 to 1.19 million m2 in 2021 according to the Greek solar thermal industry association EBHE. While domestic sales increased by 33 % in the period under …
From LECs to TECs – citizen energy in focus
In recent years, the term Local Energy Communities has gained wider currency. And what it describes has given rise to the new phenomenon of the ‘prosumer’, who not only consumes but also produces energy. The definition of an Local Energy Community (LEC) varies from source to source. The shortest may …
What will be the demands of REPowerEU on solar heat and heat pumps?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered the publication of the REPowerEU plan, which the European Commission introduced on 18 May. Accelerated deployment of renewable energies and energy efficiency measures should rapidly reduce dependency on Russian fossil fuels and speed up the green transition. The climate goals were tightened again and …
EU Solar Energy Strategy should balance out heat and power
The European Commission plans to launch its EU Solar Energy Strategy in June 2022. According to the official announcement this strategy will “take the form of a Commission communication“, aiming to ensure that solar energy both for power generation and heat production “achieves its full potential in helping to meet …
Emission-free heat supply for new building area in Austria
For an emission-free energy supply for new and existing buildings on industrial wasteland in Reutte, Tyrol, Austria, the project developers are using PVT collectors. The Zero Emission Building Design concept of the Austrian company Simona Alexe – greenixcloud convinced the investors. They want to build a new commercial, industrial and …
The big names in Spain’s picking up industrial solar heat market
The latest call for solar heat projects in service and industry in Spain created quite intensive sales activities for technology providers. The Thermal Energy Production scheme awarded funding to 51 solar thermal systems totalling 61 MW. A handful of Spanish companies will provide the technology and installation services for most …
EU Minimum Energy Performance Standards: Powerful tool or threat?
The draft of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) from mid-December 2021 includes a number of powerful amendments (see pdfs at the end of the article). Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for existing buildings and a definition of Zero Emission Buildings (ZEB) are new key elements. Reporting has …
Economic tailwind for large flat plate collector producers globally
Consolidation among the global solar thermal industry continued in 2021. The 20 largest flat plate collector manufacturers listed in the ranking managed to increase production by, on average, 15 % last year. This is significantly higher than in the previous year, with 9 %. The reasons for the growth are …
High fossil fuel prices and generous support drive up demand in France
Two weeks before the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, France’s President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech in which he detailed his strategy for developing the nation’s energy sector. He left no doubt that nuclear energy would continue to play a central role, but at the same time attributed growing …
Merging decades of solar expertise
The merger of the two Swiss companies Energie Solaire and Soltop Schuppisser in October 2021 has created a multifaceted enterprise in the field of green building technology. The new company Soltop Energie chaired by Wolfgang Thiele has taken over all the employees, who have several decades of experiences in the …
Push for the German solar thermal market is badly needed
The German boiler manufacturers are satisfied with their sales for 2021. Plumbers installed almost one million units. This is 10 % more than in the previous year, according to statistics from the heating industry association BDH. When looking at the market figures broken down by technology, biomass boilers were the …
