Energy Blue Print
Archive 2008

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

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archives2008 archiveregional scenarios 2008oecd north americaheat and cooling supply

heat and cooling supply

Today, renewables provide 11% of 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 69% of North America’s total heating demand in 2050.

  • Energy efficiency measures help to reduce the currently growing demand for heating and cooling, in spite of improving living standards.
  • For direct heating, solar collectors, biomass/biogas as well as geothermal energy are increasingly substituting for fossil fuelfired systems.
  • A shift from coal and oil to natural gas in the remaining conventional applications will lead to a further reduction of CO2 emissions.
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