Europe has the technologies and manufacturing capacity to move away from fossil-fuelled heating. But without swift and consistent policy action, the momentum built over the past decade risks slipping away.
Heating and cooling sit at the heart of Europe’s energy transition. They account for most household energy use, yet fossil fuels remain deeply embedded in how Europe heats its homes. Renewable heat is growing too slowly, while lower energy consumption has not translated into a meaningful change in the underlying fuel mix.
Our new briefing, Europe’s heating transition is stalling, examines why progress has slowed. Its central finding is clear: this is not a story of technologies failing to deliver. Heat pumps, solar thermal, geothermal, and clean district heating are established solutions, backed by European expertise and a strong manufacturing base. The problem is that Europe has not created the stable policy conditions needed to deploy them at scale.
The next phase of the transition will depend less on whether solutions exist than on whether policy turns ambition into durable demand. The longer Europe waits, the harder it will become to protect industrial capacity, keep costs down, and achieve affordable, renewable, and decarbonised heating and cooling for all.
Europe can still turn this around: Read the briefing to discover what is slowing progress and the policy choices that can put Europe’s heating transition back on track.