Energy Cities’ recent activities on heating topic and insights of discussions with cities

"Decarb City Pipes" and "Fossil free districts" are two projects by Energy Cities which aim to contribute to the decarbonisation of our cities.

Burning things has been the go-to solution for thousands of years to keep our buildings warm. Now, faced with the immense challenge of becoming climate-neutral within a generation, cities have to completely rethink this approach. This is where Energy Cities’ virtual City Learning Labs come in: to support local governments in moving towards fossil-free districts and cities, and help them reinvent the way they can heat and cool their buildings. In May, the City Learning Labs hosted its first edition with cities and their local stakeholders across Europe – recap of three days full of practical and enriching exchanges!

The City Learning Labs, which we are organizing with generous support from the European Climate Foundation, firstly follow a regional approach. The 10 cities taking part in the Labs have been divided into three geographical areas in Europe: North-West Europe, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. This approach ensures that cities facing similar challenges and frameworks can learn, exchange and get inspired from each other. The following 10 cities have joined the City Learning Labs:

• North-West Europe: Annecy (France), Communauté d’agglomération de Pau Béarn Pyrénées (France), Charleroi (Belgium), Liège (Belgium)
• Eastern Europe: Niš (Serbia), Lodz (Poland), Kartuzy (Poland)
• Mediterranean: Karlovac (Croatia), Varazdin (Croatia), San Lucido (Italy)

Decarb City Pipes 2050 is another project implemented by Energy Cities which aims to unite cities across Europe to work out actionable, spatially differentiated transition roadmaps to decarbonise heating and cooling for buildings in 2050. Bilbao, Bratislava, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna and Winterthur are taking up the challenge of phasing out natural gas in heating.

In mid-July, the EU will issue key proposals to address heat decarbonisation – the so-called “Fit for 55” package. It is a critical moment, as this legislative package will determine the direction of heating and cooling policies in the EU for decades to come. Moreover, it will be essential in keeping the bar high on energy and climate action, and in pushing a systemic shift to rethink the heat sector: with cities at the epicenter of this shift, using the right mix of solutions including renewables, circularity (e.g. waste heat) and infrastructure (such as district heating and cooling networks).

To ensure that cities’ needs and leadership role are taken on board in this pivotal moment for the future of heating and cooling, Energy Cities is endorsing, together with its partners Celsius Cities, #DHCities and FEDARENE, the Cities Manifesto for Fossil-Free Heating and Cooling.

The aim of the Cities Manifesto is to send a strong signal to the EU and Member States, that fossil-free heating and cooling will only be achieved if cities are properly supported and empowered to drive this transition.