Experts call for “more efficient” buildings to curb gas spending in the EU

Several experts agreed on Tuesday to bet on an energy reform of buildings in the European Union (EU) and they called for the introduction of new standards to make gas spending on heating more efficient and sustainable, in order to avoid future increases in the price of bills.

During a virtual conference organized by the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC, in English), the specialists bet on boosting heating with renewable energy to the detriment of natural gas of fossil origin, which is the majority today in the whole of the European Union (EU).

This is a request that comes shortly before learning about the European Commission’s proposal for a new directive on energy efficiency, with which the community government intends to renovate aging buildings to adapt them to the climate objectives that Brussels has set for 2050, and that happen, among others, to achieve zero emissions of polluting gases.

Faced with this scenario, the Irish MEP of the Greens Ciarán Cuffe, who participated in the virtual conference, was concerned because, as he explained, in recent days he has received some leaks about the Commission’s proposal that, in his opinion, “does not they show ambitious commitments ”, he lamented.

“I think the role of the European Parliament should be to demand more. We will continue to put pressure to try to ensure that the Commission’s measures are as ambitious as possible, ”he said.

According to the data provided by the community executive himself, buildings are responsible for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, and that is why, for Cuffe, the energy renovation of buildings is a “key challenge ”To stop the climate emergency.

“We need to look towards a future where all buildings are zero energy waste. We have the technology to create them today ”, he asserted.

The environmental MEP also urged to start this renovation for social housing of official protection, to guarantee, he said, that “those with low incomes lead this transition” because, as he explained, they are the people who are “most likely” to suffer from energy poverty. .

For her part, during the virtual meeting, the deputy director of the NGO Climate Action Network, Theodora Petroula, urged the European authorities to take advantage of the current moment of rising gas prices as a pretext to “reinforce action towards an energetic renovation of buildings ”.

And in this sense, the director of the European program in charge of guaranteeing the energy transition, Jan Rosenow, admitted that the rise in the cost of gas is “problematic for several reasons” for the EU countries.

In the first place, he assured that, due to the fact that most of this resource is imported from third countries, the 27 cannot intervene to lower prices, since, as he said, the member states are “highly exposed to fluctuations in prices. international markets ”.

“The point is, most of these gas price overruns are paid by people trying to keep their homes warm. Most of the gas is used to heat buildings, rather than for industry, ”said Rosenow.

And he continued: “This winter there will be people who will have to decide between eating or heating, which is completely unacceptable. Governments will have to intervene ”, he declared.

According to this expert, the solution is to curb the demand for gas of fossil origin and promote green and renewable options, at the same time that the European building stock is reformed to improve its thermal insulation.