Daikin, world leader in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning sector, has expressed its support for the European Green Deal, a set of political initiatives carried out by the European Commission with the overall goal of achieving climate neutrality in Europe by 2050, reducing CO2 emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Daikin, which already had the goal of becoming a climate neutral company globally by 2050, believes that the way forward is decarbonization in the heating sector, also thanks to the technological innovation of heat pumps.

Decarbonizing Europe and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic are two major challenges. In presenting the Green Deal, the President of the European Commission even called it "The moment of man on the moon".

Today, the European building stock is responsible for around 36% of all CO2 emissions in the EU. If we take into account that almost 50% of the final energy consumption of the European Union is used for heating and cooling, of which 80% in buildings, the potential for carbonization in this sector is enormous.

Heat pumps are a proven solution and Europe has the technology, experience and investment to expand it further. From single-family to multi-family homes, from renovations to new homes, from small to large commercial buildings and industrial systems, today heat pumps are able to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal.

Heat pumps are a low carbon heating technology. For each kWh of heat required, the environmental impact of the heat pump is about half of that caused by a highly efficient gas boiler, with a lower potential for carbon dioxide emissions due to the further decarbonization of electricity generation of the European Union.

Heat pumps exploit renewable energies such as thermal energy from the air, water or soil. These renewable energy sources are abundantly available in Europe; there is therefore no need to import them.

Heat pumps will increasingly use electricity from renewable sources and therefore will become a completely climate neutral solution.

They are essential to allow the balancing of the electricity grid, thus supporting the further development of renewable energy production.

Investments in heat pumps also stimulate economic growth in the EU as these products are widely developed and produced in Europe. Daikin, for example, has a research and development center and five factories in Europe to implement heat pump technology.

Each investment made in heat pump technology creates new jobs in the area. The heat pump industry as a whole currently employs 225,000 people in Europe. New and further investments in heating from renewable sources will offer benefits to the European economy as well as to the environment.

Following the European Green Deal initiative, EU Member State policy makers can act on two levels to achieve decarbonization.

First, EU Member States could commit to ending the use of fossil fuels, eliminating the most polluting heating systems or avoiding incentives for fossil fuels themselves. On the latter aspect, the greatest criticality lies in the fact that direct or indirect incentives are still in favor of oil or gas boilers, due to the different taxation of heat pumps compared to boilers. In this direction, Austria has taken a big step forward since it no longer allows the installation of oil-fired boilers in new homes from January 2020.

Secondly, renewable technologies also need a level playing field. The difference between the prices of electricity and gas in many Member States is too high to make a heat pump an economically attractive investment for European citizens. Incentives may close the gap for a limited period but, in the long term, the cost of energy should reflect more carbon emissions. Carbon pricing can contribute to a further reduction in emissions by extending the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS EU) to all emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels in buildings and by revising the Energy Tax Directive.

The industry is constantly innovating to make heat pumps interesting through a mix of product features, price, design and ease of use and installation. The industry must invest more to explain all the benefits of heat pumps so that the end user becomes more aware of them.

"Daikin has the ambition to become a carbon neutrality company on a global scale by 2050. Decarbonizing the heating sector in Europe and achieving the important objectives of the Green Deal are the drivers of this mission. Daikin is convinced that all stakeholders - policy makers, industry leaders and consumers - have the same goal, to lay the foundations for a future carbon neutrality”, concludes Patrick Crombez, General Manager of Daikin Europe Heating and Renewables.