Design of an Energy Policy for the Decarbonisation of Residential and Service Buildings in Northern Portugal

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 16; no. 5; p. 2239
• Main Authors: Capelo, Sara, Soares, Tiago, Azevedo, Isabel, Fonseca, Wellington, Matos, Manuel A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.03.2023
• Subjects: Air quality management; building energy consumption; Buildings; Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Climate change; Consumers; Cost control; Decarbonization; Electrification; Emissions; Emissions control; Energy consumption; Energy efficiency; energy policies and actions; Energy policy; Energy sources; Energy use; Environmental aspects; Environmental policy; Green buildings; Greenhouse effect; greenhouse gas emissions; Greenhouse gases; Industrial plant emissions; Investments; local energy planning; Methods; net zero carbon building; Power plants; Renewable energy sources; Residential areas; Portugal
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en16052239

The decarbonisation of the building sector is crucial for Portugal’s goal of achieving economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050. To mobilize communities towards energy efficiency measures, it is important to understand the primary drivers and barriers that must be overcome through policymaking. This paper aims to review existing Energy Policies and Actions (EPA) in Portugal and assess their effectiveness in improving Energy Efficiency (EE) and reducing CO2 emissions in the building sector. The Local Energy Planning Assistant (LEPA) tool was used to model, test, validate and compare the implementation of current and alternative EPAs in the North of Portugal, including the national EE plan. The results indicate that electrification of heating and cooling, EE measures, and the proliferation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are crucial for achieving climate neutrality. The study found that the modelling of alternative EPAs can be improved to reduce investment costs and increase Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction. Among the alternatives assessed, the proposed one (Alternative 4) presents the best returns on investment in terms of cost savings and emissions reduction. It allows for 52% investment cost savings in the residential sector and 13% in the service sector when compared to the current national roadmap to carbon neutrality (Alternative 2). The estimated emission reduction in 2050 for Alternative 4 is 0.64% for the residential sector and 3.2% for the service sector when compared to Alternative 2.