Over the past years EiiF - the voice of industrial insulation in Brussels - has advocated strongly in public consultations, speeches and presentations, being interviewed by the European Commission (mainly DG ENERGY) and taking part in the Energy Efficiency Directive workshops. We have been joining forces with others like the Coalition for a Higher Ambition and EiiF Members (e.g., the CEO letter) to increase the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target to 55%.
EiiF recommended implementing the following measures:
- The energy efficiency first principle (cf. EED recast, PDF page 3)
- A binding and increased energy savings target (cf. EED recast, PDF page 34)
- Energy management obligation for energy-intensive companies (with an annual energy consumption higher than 100TJ) (cf. EED recast, PDF page 96)
- Energy audit obligation for companies with an annual energy consumption higher than 10TJ (cf. EED recast, PDF page 50 and EED recast, PDF page 96)
- The requirement to implement the energy audit recommendations (cf. EED recast, PDF page 96 and ETS amendment, PDF page 19)
On 14 July 2021, the European Commission adopted a “Fit for 55” package of proposals to make the EU's climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The Fit for 55 Package shows that our top five recommendations successfully found their way into the new proposal. The Commission staff working document evaluation of directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency accompanying the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency (recast) highlights the short payback times offered by TIPCHECK energy audits (cf. EED Evaluation, PDF page 255).
As regards energy audits and energy management systems (Article 8) the costs can be divided into three types: the administration of the relevant provisions by the public authorities, the cost of the energy audits and, if applicable, the necessary investments by the enterprises to implement the energy saving measures identified in the energy audit. There are no consistent data on the implementation of energy saving measures, primarily because Member States are not required to gather and report this data. Since implementation of the recommendations is voluntary it can reasonably be assumed enterprises will only implement those measures that make economic sense. Information on TIPCHECK industry heat audits shows that payback periods for the TIPCHECK insulation projects initiated typically were in most cases 2 years or less133.
133 https://www.eiif.org/tipcheck/tipcheck-benefits-industry
For the Proposal by the European Commission to be adopted, the European Parliament and the EU Council still need to accept it. The overview of the ordinary legislative procedure in the EU can be found here: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/infographic/legislative-procedure/index_en.html and more information on how the EU plans to deliver the European Green Deal can be accessed here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/delivering-european-green-deal_en
Our new brochure “EiiF & Fit for 55” summarises the main points of the five measures proposed by the European Commission and gives the EiiF position on each one. Please read the brochure here.
