Combating climate change and securing energy supply are tomorrow‘s key challenges, and for the first time, on 23 and 24 February 2010, the entire European community of industrial and research stakeholders from the biomass, geothermal and solar thermal sectors will get together in Bilbao at the First Annual Conference of the European Technology Platform (RHC-ETP) on Renewable Heating and Cooling.

Under the auspices of the forthcoming Spanish Presidency and supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Basque Energy Board (EVE) and the Spanish Association of Renewable Energy Producers (APPA), the event will focus on a newly developed common vision for renewable heating and cooling, providing a unique opportunity for research and industry players to gain valuable insights into the leading edge technologies involved in the market development of the European heating and cooling sector.

In October 2008, the EU Commission officially endorsed the European Technology Platform on Renewable Heating and Cooling (RHC-ETP). It plays a decisive role in evaluating the huge potential of biomass, geothermal and solar thermal energy, defining research needs and promoting renewable energy sources in the field of heating and cooling – an area that accounts for around half of Europe’s final energy consumption.

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