The Missing Piece in Climate Policy
Renewable Heating and Cooling
WHEN
- July 9, 2008 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM
WHERE
- Emerging Enterprise Center at Foley Hoag
- Bay Colony Corporate Center, North Entrance
- 1000 Winter Street - Suite 4000
- Waltham, MA 02451
- Map
DESCRIPTION
To date, efforts to combat climate change have emphasized reducing fossil fuel emissions through renewable energy technologies that produce less, if any, CO2 emissions. However, most renewable energy policies have only focused on the transportation and electricity sectors, and have ignored what has become the Cinderella sector: heating and cooling. Omitting heating and cooling from renewable energy planning is problematic since heating and cooling account for 40-50% of global CO2 emissions, and an estimated 20% of US CO2 emissions. There is great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the use of renewable energy technologies beyond those already being introduced into the transportation and electricity industries. There are currently no federal policies in the U.S. that target renewable heating and cooling as a whole, and there are only a handful of states' incentives targeting the sector around the country. In Germany this is not the case; a federal heating act bill has already been proposed, along with several alternative measures for reducing emissions from heating and cooling. This event will explore experience with renewable heating and cooling internationally by providing an overview of German experience with renewable heating and cooling, and an overview of the status of renewable heating and cooling in the U.S. Market barriers will be identified, as well as potential policy solutions for moving forward both at home and abroad.
Panelist include:
Felix Matthes, Öko-Institut Berlin (Institute for Applied Ecology)
Dwayne Breger, Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources
Wilson Rickerson, Rickerson Energy Strategies, LLC
Charlie Niebling, New England Wood Pellet
Sander Cohan, Energy Security Analysis, Inc.
Moderated by:
Arne Jungjohann, Heinrich Böll Foundation