77: Electrifying Europe with Thomas Nowak

In Episode 77 of First Fuel, EEC’s CEO Luke Menzel is joined by the Secretary General of the European Heat Pump Association, Thomas Nowak.

Even prior to the war in Ukraine, Europe was already warming up to heat pumps, but the need to get away from Russian gas has supercharged that effort. Today, the European Commission has a plan to double the rate of heat pump deployment, with Germany announcing a ‘heat pump offensive’, to take the annual install rate to half a million per year. As another example, the Netherlands - one of the most gas-reliant countries in the world - will ban fossil fuel heating from 2026, making heat pumps mandatory.

Needless to say, Thomas is at the forefront of this movement. In this episode, he and Luke discuss the pace of change in Europe, the opportunity to leverage this technology in Australian homes, commercial buildings and industry, and the need to educate the public about the transformative benefits of heat pumps for climate, health and hip-pocket.

Mentioned in this episode:

RePowerEU

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Key topics:

What is the European Heat Pump Association?

The gas crisis and the EU’s response

Heat pumps in residential buildings, commercial buildings and industry

The role of refrigerants in heat pumps, and effectively managing climate impacts

Connect with our guests:

Find Thomas at https://twitter.com/ThomasNowakEU

Connect with us:

Find Luke at https://twitter.com/lukemenzel

Find out more about the Energy Efficiency Council at www.eec.org.au

Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EECouncil

Email us at [email protected]

To find out how you can listen to an upcoming episode of First Fuel live, visit www.eec.org.au/podcasts