Innovative Policies and Markets for the Deployment of Renewable Energies for Heating and Cooling in the Residential Sector

Duration: 2009 – 2010 ● Client: IEA-RETD ● WIP Role: Policy development, Market uptake

Renewable energy technologies for heating and cooling (REHC) in the residential sector provide a substantial but largely untapped potential to reduce carbon emissions and to increase energy security. Good policies for market development have proved successful for promoting REHC technologies in the residential sector.

The exchange of lessons learnt between countries can help to implement robust, effective and sustainable policies that can overcome the most common barriers to the deployment of REHC in the residential sector. In order to facilitate this exchange, framework conditions and policies in 14 countries were analyzed and the relative progress in each country was compared. The policies identified during the first phase of the research were screened and 9 were chosen for further analysis. In-depth information was collected through interviewing persons responsible for the design and implementation of selected policies. The detailed policy profiles developed were studied to identify best practices. Based on this set of recommendations, a toolbox as practical guide (Best Practices Guide) was created to assist policy makers in developing successful policy frameworks.

This study was performed for the International Energy Agency, Implementing Agreement on Renewable Energy Technology Deployment (RETD) by WIP in association with Marbek Resource Consultants.