You are currently viewing Forward-looking socio-economic research on energy efficiency in EU countries (HERON)

Forward-looking socio-economic research on energy efficiency in EU countries (HERON)

Funding:
European Commission, Horizon 2020 Programme

Timeframe:
01/05/2015 – 30/11/2017

Budget:
958 750 Euro

Contractors:
University of Athens – KEPA, Greece (Coordinator); University Bocconi, Italy; BSERC, Bulgaria; Oxford Brookes University, UK; University of Antwerpen, Belgium; Wuppertal Institute, Germany; University of Belgrade – FMG, Serbia; Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre, Estonia

HERON aimеd at facilitating policymakers of multi-level governance in EU, to develop and monitor energy efficiency (EE) policies in building and transport sectors, through forward-looking socio-economic research in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Estonia, Serbia and UK.

The project objectives were:

  1. Study of the impact of socio-economic and institutional factors on implementing energy efficiency policies and measures;
  2. Development of energy-efficient pathways to the horizon 2030 and beyond, taking into account the socio-economic drivers and the updated EE measures;
  3. Contribution to improving energy modelling by incorporating social, educational and cultural factors so as to reflect the end-user behavior;
  4. Establishment of communication channels between researchers, decision-makers of different governance levels and social and market stakeholders.

After thirty-one months of work, HERON provided:

  • A landscape of energy efficiency policy packages in a multi-level government system
  • Status-quo analysis of energy efficiency policies for 8 national level case studies
  • Interlinkage and synergies between selected other policy areas and energy efficiency
  • Technological Trends in energy efficiency
  • Working paper on social, economic, cultural and educational barriers and on cross-cutting barriers, in buildings and transport for 7 national level case studies
  • Outcomes synthesis of a Questionnaire on barriers and driving factors, translated into 7 languages, along with the relevant Data Management plan and the List of actors and organizations surveyed for 7 national level case studies
  • An innovative Decision Support Tool (HERON – DST) (methodology, software, case studies) that allows the use of qualitative information for evaluating barriers and to conclude with their quantified impact.