Heat From the Sun .... Why Is This A Novel Idea??

Pace Quickens for Solar Thermal Energy in Europe

[T[he European Solar Thermal Industry Federation's (ESTIF) ... proposes that by 2020, the EU should aim at reaching 1 square meter of collector area for every European -- or 320 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of installed capacity.

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European Directives to promote renewables in the electricity sector and in the transport sector have been successful in kicking off substantial growth in these two sectors.

However, the renewable heating and cooling (RES-H) sector has been neglected at EU level and in most Member States. Thus, the fragmented solar thermal development is not surprising. If all EU countries used solar thermal as enthusiastically as the Austrians, the EU's installed capacity would already be 91 GWth (130 million m2) today, far beyond the target of 100 million m2 by 2010, set by the White Paper in 1997.

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