Environmental Assessment of Residential Space Heating and Cooling Technologies in Europe: A Review of 11 European Member States

Greenhouse gas emissions have reached critical levels and climate change is threatening the globe. Thus, the space heating and cooling sector is striving to decarbonize assets through higher efficiency and renewable energy adoption for 2030 and 2050. This article reviewed data about the environmenta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2023-03, Vol.15 (5), p.4288
Main Authors: Fraboni, Riccardo, Grazieschi, Gianluca, Pezzutto, Simon, Mitterrutzner, Benjamin, Wilczynski, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative energy sources
Buildings
Climate change
Cooling
Decarbonization
Dwellings
Emissions
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
Energy resources
Environmental assessment
Environmental impact analysis
Fossil fuels
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Heating
Heating, cooling and ventilation
Housing
Methods
Public buildings
Renewable resources
Residential areas
Space heating
Technology
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Summary:Greenhouse gas emissions have reached critical levels and climate change is threatening the globe. Thus, the space heating and cooling sector is striving to decarbonize assets through higher efficiency and renewable energy adoption for 2030 and 2050. This article reviewed data about the environmental impact and the primary energy consumption of 27 space heating and cooling technologies for the residential sector as if they were adopted in 11 different European member states: Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. Direct emissions from the machineries and upstream indirect emissions from the energy carriers were considered. The analysis indicates that the adoption of renewable energy-powered technologies should be prioritized due to the significantly lower emissions related to these technologies. Notably, the emissions of electricity-powered technologies, if not driven by the direct self-consumption of renewable energy systems, highly depend on the region of adoption: in specific cases, such as in Poland, Cyprus, and Estonia, they can even exceed the emissions of coal-powered technologies. These countries should speed up the adoption of decarbonization policies regarding the residential sector to close the gap with the other EU member states and provide their contribution to the EU climate change goals.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su15054288