Energy efficiency and heating of buildings. Kyoto Club and Legambiente launch the new campaign.
The heating of houses is responsible for over 19% of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by our country and 60% of fine particles in urban areas. Legambiente and Kyoto Club launch the campaign for domestic heating systems without fossil fuels to reduce the pollution that we breathe every day and contribute to the fight against climate change.
Home heating is one of the main causes of pollution in urban areas and it is responsible for more than 19% of greenhouse gas emissions produced by our country and 60% of fine dust. In Italy more than 19 million gas boilers are installed and it is estimated that more than 7 million of them are older than Directive 90/396/EC on the performance of gas appliances, which risk being replaced by other gas systems, possibly more efficient but do not solve the problem of local and global pollution that they produce. This situation can and must be changed, as foreseen by the European climate and energy targets and as it also appears among the commitments of the Italian Government in the Pniec. But now is the time to accelerate on this direction and reduce the pollution we breathe every day so contributing to the fight against climate change. For this reason, Legambiente and Kyoto Club today launched a campaign entitled “For the decarbonization of heating systems in buildings in Italy” to make citizens and politicians aware of the need to stop the spreading of heating systems from fossil fuels in Italy. Today there are competitive alternatives to gas heating systems in homes, such as electric heat pumps, which can be integrated with solar photovoltaic systems and low-enthalpy geothermal systems with a very high efficiency than fossil fuels.
“It’s wrong for gas systems to receive incentives of up to 110% of the cost, so why continue to push them when there are more efficient zero emission technologies? In some European countries – explain Edoardo Zanchini, Vice president of Legambiente and Gianni Silvestrini Scientific Director of Kyoto Club – the date by which it will be forbidden to install heating systems from fossil fuels has already been established. The same choice must be taken in Italy, starting from the cities where pollution is concentrated and the consequences on people’s health are more relevant. During this campaign we will involve companies because the Italian industrial system can play a useful role and become a leader of a transition in the civil sectors that can create great opportunities for investment and job creation. And we will discuss with local authorities and the Government to push the regulatory choices necessary to make possible a prospect that is in the interest of citizens and the environment. The objective of at least 55%, compared to 1990, to reduce CO2-equivalent emissions by 2030, announced by the President of the European Commission and endorsed by the Italian Government, requires immediate action, with measures to promote renewable energy sources and energy efficiency for domestic heating. Our campaign is a contribution to raise awareness of the urgency to act and to support the companies in the sector so that by 2030 they produce only systems without climate-changing emissions”.
Legambiente and Kyoto Club remind that, according to the most recent data from the European Environmental Bureau, the energy consumed for heating of buildings and water supplies represents 28% of the total of energy consumed in the EU, 80% of the final energy consumption of households and 12% of total EU equivalent CO2 emissions. Also, at the EU level, 85% of central heating is fuelled by fossil fuels; boilers are used to heat homes. fossil fuels: gas boilers represent 58% of those installed and 60% are old and inefficient (class C or lower).
