The bill to implement Germany’s 2030 climate protection package came into effect at the beginning of this year. We spoke with Wolfram Axthelm, General Manager of the German Renewable Energy Federation about the impact of the new act on the use of renewables in the building sector.

The Dutch approach to transforming the heating sector
by Bärbel Epp

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 in early December.

Role of life-cycle costs in NZEB projects
by Bärbel Epp

How much does it cost to construct, run and maintain a Nearly Zero Energy Building? Answering this question is the aim of CRAVEzero.eu, a new, interactive online platform that supports architects and planners to calculate life-cycle costs of NZEBs.

UK: “Solar heat has fallen out of awareness against PV”
by Chris Laughton

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. Why did this programme not become the expected positive role model?