It is encouraging that the OECD has published a Data Explainer that details the need for governments to step up policies promoting more efficient energy use. It focuses on 13 energy efficiency policies, including minimum energy performance standards (MEPS), public financing mechanisms for buildings and industry (e.g. green mortgages, vendor credits), fuel economy standards and energy efficiency mandates for large emitters. EiD encourages readers to review this Data Explainer. It strengthens the case for improved energy efficiency in our climate and energy transition.
The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) announced a rise in heat pump sales in the first quarter of this year – an increase that was definitely influenced by Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz. Sales of residential heat pumps went up 25% in the first quarter of 2026 in France, Germany and Poland, on average. Overall, a total of around 575,000 units were sold in 11 European countries from January to March 2026, making a 17% increase compared to 494,000 in the same period and countries in 2025. They noted that the overall average was brought down by Austria, where sales dropped 30% due to the lack of government subsidies. Paul Kenny, the Director General of the EHPA, offers a pithy explanation: “If your streaming service doubled its price then blocked its movies you’d find a better one. Consumers have realised heat pumps are the solution when gas and oil are erratic in price and supply.”
The International Maritime Organization had hoped to have approved the first global sector-wide carbon pricing system. A Financial Times newsletter reports that, while US-owned ships account for less than 3 per cent of the world’s merchant shipping fleet, the Trump administration is using “bare-knuckle diplomatic tactics” to continue stalling the new system’s approval. “Ahead of last week’s meeting in London, the head of the US delegation urged other countries to abandon work on the draft plan, saying there was “no prospect of achieving consensus around that proposal.” Delegates then rejected a proposal from the UAE that it should be dropped from future discussions. Now the IMO has scheduled two working meetings, in September and November, aimed at breaking the deadlock. “There’s still a momentum to this — there’s still a willingness to find a global framework,” said Tore Longva of shipping services company DNV, who attended last week’s negotiations. “The US and other [opponents of the framework] see that they cannot block it. So they have to engage.” Stay tuned!
Marine Cornelis of Next Energy Consumer is running a survey to collect first-hand accounts from people who tried to install energy upgrades — from balcony solar, heat pumps, insulation, batteries in their (multifamily) home — and ran into obstacles: approval processes, coordination burdens, product failures, or rules that helped or blocked them. The goal is to understand where things break down in practice, and who ends up carrying the weight, particularly in multi-apartment buildings where getting neighbours or landlords on board adds a layer of complexity that policy rarely accounts for. Responses will feed into a policy research report for a European consumer organisation. Marine needs to hear from you. Please complete the survey here.
Many relevant events are coming up – you can see the latest list here. Please note that there is still some space for attending the June eceee summer study. If you know of an upcoming event that EiD readers should know about, please contact us. Let us know your experience.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:
- Check out the Good Night Train website for the unique way to travel through Europe while you sleep. Check out this video: Sleeper trains — the future of travel? A Berlin startup is developing compact sleeper cabins, designed to make night trains cheaper and greener. Check out this week’s post on night sleepers.
- World Walks provides us with walking holidays in Europe.
- TimeOut provides the news that after two years, one of Europe’s most beautiful hiking trails – Madeira’s PR1 Vereda do Areeiro, a 7km trail which encompasses three of the archipelago’s highest peaks – will re-open this month.
- Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 best cycling holidays in Europe in 2026.
Carl Rogers (1902-1987), an American psychologist who was one of the founders of humanistic psychology, gives us a good message about the good life: “The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- Accelerating the energy transition: EiiF gives us much to reflect on
- Reflections on the second general assembly of the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition
- New EEA briefings on how AI and digitalisation can support the green transition
- Beyond rhetoric: can Santa Marta advance the fossil fuel phase-down?
- European cities are starting to show what happens when streets are built for people
- Wars are fueling climate change — yet no one counts the emissions
- How renewables shielded Britain from soaring gas prices
- Renewables can now deliver 24/7 power — and compete on cost
- We would never sabotage a spacecraft — so why sabotage Earth?
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 