The Workshop for the EnR members organized by the EnR Industry & Enterprises Working Group held several fruitful discussions on the decarbonisation of the Industry and Service sectors.
The Industry and Service sectors represent more than 39% of the EU’s final energy consumption, equivalent to about one fifth of the EU’s total Greenhouse Gas emissions. European industries have made important progress to improve their energy efficiency and switching to low carbon energy sources; however, opportunities for saving energy remain in most enterprises. In March 2020, the New Industrial Strategy outlined how Europe will become greener, more circular and digital while remaining competitive on the global stage. The Strategy proposes a comprehensive set of future actions to transform industry along with support to SMEs to be part of the low carbon transition. Within this context, both Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency will continue playing a leading role.
The workshop aimed to inform the participants on the current path towards a 2050 decarbonised industry (JRC) as well as providing the members with an overview of the main results from European (ETIP-SNET) and international (UNIDO/UNECE) initiatives. Two national Energy Agencies have explored the topics of the water-energy nexus (ADENE, Portugal) and presented Industry-related initiatives also within the Recovery plan to tackle the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak (ADEME, France). The financial support for Energy efficiency & industry has been exhaustively presented by EASME. During the workshop, the participants learned more about the LEAP4SME initiative, aimed to help the European countries in building effective and resilient policies for SMEs.
From EnR, Barto Piersma (RVO, EnR Presidency 2020) welcomed the participants and Enrico Biele (ENEA, EnR IWG Chair) introduced and moderated the meeting. The workshop has been attended by 40 experts and senior managers from several National Energy Agencies and European Institutions.
To find out more about the EnR Industry & Enterprises Working Group, visit the dedicated webpage.