Energy Blue Print
Archive 2010

Moving from principles to action for energy supply that mitigates against climate change requires a long-term perspective. Energy infrastructure takes time to build up; new energy technologies take time to develop. Policy shifts often also need many years to take effect. In most world regions the transformation from fossil to renewable energies will require additional investment and higher supply costs over about twenty years

archives2010 archiveregionaloecd north americaheat and cooling supply

heat and cooling supply

Today, renewables meet 12% of OECD North America’s primary energy demand for heat supply, the main contribution coming from the use of biomass.The lack of district heating networks is a severe structural barrier to the large scale utilisation of geothermal and solar thermal energy. Dedicated support instruments are required to ensure a dynamic development.

  • In the Energy [R]evolution scenario, renewables provide 73% of OECD North America’s total heating demand by 2050.
  • • Energy efficiency measures help to reduce the currently growing demand for heating and cooling, in spite of improving living standards.
  • • In the industry sector solar collectors, biomass/biogas and geothermal energy are increasingly substituted for conventional fossil-fuelled heating systems.
  • • A shift from coal and oil to natural gas in the remaining conventional applications leads to a further reduction of CO2 emissions.

In the Energy [R]evolution scenario 5,372 PJ/a is saved by 2050, or 21% compared to the Reference scenario.The advanced version introduces renewable heating systems around five years ahead of the basic scenario. Solar collectors and geothermal heating systems achieve economies of scale via ambitious support programmes five to ten years earlier, resulting in a renewables share of 51% by 2030 and 97% by 2050.

Copyright Greenpeace - Development by semaforce