Repower the regions: How to make a heating and cooling plan for municipalities. A methodology for creating a sustainable and just plan for district heating decarbonisation
September 27, 2024
The methodology proposed in this study for local heating and cooling planning at the local level is supplemented by a set of specific legislative and regulatory recommendations at the state level.
Environmental NGOs demand halt to KfW controversial biomass investments in Serbia
July 29, 2024
41 environmental organisations from the Western Balkans, Germany, and across Europe have called on German state-owned development bank KfW to stop financing wood biomass energy in Serbia in order to avoid forest degradation risks and locking Serbia into further dependency on high-carbon energy sources.[1]
Western Balkans urged to embrace renewable energy for district heating
May 14, 2024
The city of Tuzla in Bosnia depends on the local coal-fired power plant for its district heating. / emirkrasnic via Pixabay
Communities leading the Western Balkans’ clean heating transition
May 8, 2024
Photo: Nataša kovačević
Open Letter on the Implementation of the RED in the European Union
April 29, 2024
In this letter, we urge the European Commission and Member States to explicitly exclude waste incineration from the scope of ‘waste heat’ targets in the RED, prioritize waste prevention and establish ambitious recycling target and invest in innovative technologies for clean energy generation and resource recovery.
Cleaning up District Heating: Best technologies and real-life examples
April 18, 2024
Intended for practitioners, policymakers, civil society and the energy sector, this brochure reviews various public financing options that can help enable the transition to clean district heating.
Bitola’s heating future: a pipeline to nowhere or solar solutions?
December 22, 2023
Bitola in North Macedonia is currently pursuing a decades-old district heating plan connected to the nearby coal power plant – which will, however, close in a few years. But better alternatives exist, as discussed at a recent event in the city, and young people, especially those involved in information sciences and technology, should play a key role in moving them forward.
New Biofuelwatch briefing exposes Tuzla power plant’s planned biomass unit as a dead end
December 21, 2023
A new briefing by Biofuelwatch, launched today, has revealed that the planned use of biomass energy crops in a new unit at the Tuzla coal power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an unfeasible and environmentally risky endeavour.
To keep homes warm in the Western Balkans, look beneath the surface
October 26, 2023
Geothermal energy as a sustainable source for district heating is gathering steam around the world. Many municipalities in the Western Balkans urgently need to break free from dirty and expensive fossil fuel-based heating. One little-known way of doing so is to tap the region’s geothermal potential lying right below their feet.
Skopje’s five-year subsidy saga has left residents with uninsulated homes
October 20, 2023
Back in 2018, following a public call by the Centar municipality in Skopje, 26 buildings were approved to receive energy-efficient façades. Yet only one building has been retrofitted in five years, leaving the residents in the other 25 buildings back at square one, disheartened by the whole process and forced to look for other alternatives to insulate their old buildings.
