Decarbonising heating and cooling by 2040 is essential for our security, health, and climate targets. Our heating and cooling needs must be met in a way that advances climate action and our energy security, while being affordable and clean. The coalition works to make decarbonised, renewable, and affordable heating and cooling a reality across the EU.
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Clean heat readiness report
On track
Best-in-class for clean heating and cooling readiness according to policy or market indicators
Average
Not the best, but not the worst either. The middle of the pack, slow but moving towards a clean heat transition
Delayed
The most room for improvement! More effort needed to help people get polluting fossil fuels out of their homes
Policy readiness
Many provisions in EU law aim at cleaning up heating and cooling, mostly in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). For example, Article 17(15) of the EPBD, states that new stand-alone boilers powered by fossil fuels should not be subsidised. Article 25(6) of the EED requires that municipalities with over 45,000 inhabitants prepare local heating and cooling plans. A lot depends on how well these EU legal requirements are implemented in national rules. The clean heat traffic report gives a snapshot of policy readiness for clean heat across Europe. Pick a country in the dropdown menu below for more.
Market
Many provisions in EU law aim at cleaning up heating and cooling, mostly in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). For example, Article 17(15) of the EPBD, states that new stand-alone boilers powered by fossil fuels should not be subsidised. Article 25(6) of the EED requires that municipalities with over 45,000 inhabitants prepare local heating and cooling plans. A lot depends on how well these EU legal requirements are implemented in national rules. The clean heat traffic report gives a snapshot of policy readiness for clean heat across Europe. Pick a country in the dropdown menu below for more.
Select a country to get detailed information
Please select a country from the dropdown above to view detailed information.
Made in the EU:
Clean heating and cooling for you
Strategic net-zero technologies – like heat pumps, solar thermal and geothermal – are on the market today and have good potential for rapid scale-up. District heating and cooling networks, energy renovation of buildings and community energy projects could majorly contribute to decarbonising heating and cooling: keep scrolling to learn more about the solutions available.
Heat pumps
Heat pumps are central to Europe’s clean heating and cooling transition, offering high energy efficiency: up to four units of heat for every unit of electricity used. This efficiency makes them key to reducing emissions and energy costs. With over 250 manufacturing sites across Europe and €14.5 billion in turnover, the EU produces 73% of its heat pumps and 20% of global supply. Employment rose 10% in 2022 to 416,200 jobs, with projections targeting 500,000 skilled workers by 2030. The heat pump industry leads renewable energy employment across the EU.
Geothermal
Geothermal energy is heat from beneath the Earth’s surface. It’s used for heating, cooling, and sometimes electricity. Geothermal heat pumps tap into the stable ground temperature to efficiently warm or cool buildings. Deeper systems use hot water or steam from underground to power district systems or generate electricity. Over 2.1 million geothermal heat pumps are installed across Europe, with growing use in larger buildings and district heating systems.
Solar thermal
Solar thermal technology captures energy from the sun and turns it into heat, typically for water and space heating. Around 10 million households across the EU are supplied by solar thermal. Europe is a technological leader in the sector, which employs 18,400 people directly and has annual sales of €1.79 billion. Tripling solar thermal capacity could reduce the EU’s gas demand in buildings by 6%.
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District heating
District heating supplies heat to multiple buildings from a central source through a network of insulated pipes. It currently serves 12% of the EU heating market, with around 17,000 networks in operation. While much of today’s district heating still relies on fossil fuels, clean sources like geothermal, solar thermal, heat pumps, and waste heat now power 7% of EU systems. Europe is a global leader in clean district heating, pioneering modern, low-carbon networks that improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and support energy security. Upgrading and expanding district heating is key to decarbonising heat at scale.
Community energy
Energy communities are citizen-led initiatives where individuals co-own and participate in local renewable energy transition projects, such as PV, wind, renovations, or heating and cooling. They are open to citizens, municipalities, and SMEs, allowing them to modernise their energy infrastructure at fair prices, while having democratic decision-making over the energy community and its activities. Energy communities, as social economy market actors, are not-for-profit and reinvest the revenues into the local community, attracting jobs, and reducing bills for their members.
Good to know.
Why heating matters
Heating and cooling account for around half of Europe’s energy use and remain largely dependent on fossil fuels, making them central to the energy transition.
Policy ≠ Market
A country can have ambitious policies while still relying heavily on fossil heating, or have a cleaner market despite weaker policy. That’s why we score both separately.
Why local action matters
National strategies alone are not enough. Local heating and cooling planning helps translate national targets into projects that benefit households.