Gas: Europe’s smart choice for heating
Did you know that natural gas provides almost half of home heating in Europe, and that heating represents 70% of a household’s energy consumption? The introduction of natural gas into our heating system over the past decades has dramatically changed how we as Europeans heat our homes, businesses and schools, enabling us to live comfortably without emptying our wallets. And we do so while at the same time not compromising the environment. Through the use of modern gas condensing boilers, we can reduce CO2 by 20% compared to traditional gas boilers, while improving air quality since compared to other technologies they emit no PMs, SOX and NOX.
But the gas industry is looking further ahead. We focus on innovation to better meet the heating needs and consumer expectations of Europeans. The necessity to heat homes while producing even less greenhouse gas emissions is driving innovation in gas for heating further, helping meet national and EU objectives to use energy efficiently while lowering emissions.
You can find out why gas is the smart choice for heating in our latest GasNaturally animation, which was produced together with Eurogas.
eurogas-FINAL-08062016_HD from GasNaturally on Vimeo.
Just one way the gas industry has already demonstrated its innovative thinking and focus on efficiency is through the introduction of new, high-efficiency boilers, which can boost energy efficiency by more than 20% and benefit consumers by lowering energy bills.
Gas is also a sustainable heating solution, made even cleaner by new technologies such as gas heat pumps, which can capture heat from the air, ground or groundwater using gas in a highly efficient way.
Another innovative trend is to integrate gas into complete heating and cooling solutions in homes, allowing different energy systems to work together to meet personalised consumer needs. Such a system might combine, for example, a gas condensing boiler and solar thermal panels, or a hybrid unit of a gas condensing boiler with an electric heat pump. This can optimise energy usage, while ensuring that consumers have the heating they need, when they need it.
Looking ahead, ‘smart’ energy systems will be the cornerstone of these kinds of innovative heating solutions. By using smart systems, we can connect appliances and technologies, offering the benefits of gas and in parallel providing complete flexibility to the consumer. For example, as you may have already seen, ‘connected’ customers can control their home heating remotely through applications on their smart phones. This digitalisation of energy allows consumers to be in the driving seat. They receive value in terms of costs and energy savings and according to their individual needs. At the same time, their choices can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a win-win situation.
As one of the most innovative industries in Europe, we will continue to evolve to meet both consumer needs and environmental challenges, and to collaborate across energy sectors to create smarter energy systems in the future. We’re confident that innovations in gas will continue to deliver clean, affordable and more efficient heating and cooling solutions to all Europeans.
In fact, we want to maintain our dialogue with stakeholders about the role of gas in heating and increasingly in cooling. For this reason, on 14 June we are organising an Energy Day Workshop. This meeting is taking place at the European Parliament during the EU Sustainable Energy Week. The Workshop is hosted by MEPs Salini, Saudargas and Zanonato. For more details about it do consult the Events webpage of GasNaturally.
Signed
Kyriakos Gialoglou
GasNaturally Vice-Chairman
EU Affairs Director, Eurogas