The new Green Deal trends

The pandemic which has hit the entire world has forced momentous change in traditional business models, towards smarter digital solutions with lower energy impact (to reduce costs and carbon footprint) and social impact (to reduce the risks of contagion).

The transition towards low environment-impact, high-efficiency energy models has been underway since 2019 with the presentation to the European Commission of the document “Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030” which gave rise to the development of the European Green Deal. The Green Deal is a roadmap which outlines a new growth strategy to transform the Union into a modern, sustainable, competitive and efficient economy  as regards resources. 

The investment Plan connected to the finalised Green Deal was presented on 14th January, 2020. It aimed not only at the direct deployment of community resources, but also at the creation of a framework to facilitate the public and private investments necessary for the transition towards a climate-neutral economy by 2050 and a plan to increase the aims of reducing EU emissions by from 40% to 50 – 55% by 2030 through a proposed European law for the climate to be shared with all the member countries, anticipated by a European Climate Pact which will trace the green road map, founded on some key assets, including:

• Energy, with an evaluation of national plans and intelligent integration strategies, as well as Renovation Wave for the building sector
• Circular economy, with a specific plan of action on waste and sustainable products, paying special attention to sectors such as textiles, building, electronics and plastic materials
• Smart and sustainable mobility with a focus on alternative fuels, intelligent transport and sustainable and intelligent mobility, as well as setting up more charging and refuelling points for alternative fuels

Many European countries have already started to implement some of the Green Deal strategies, focusing above all on transport and buildings.

In France a draft law on climate which plans a system of programmed incentives until 2028 has been under discussion for a few years. It includes obligations of ever more stringent energy performance which will lead to the energy renovation of the existing energy-hungry building stock, as already put into place by the Dècret Tertiare.

In Italy the fiscal Superbonus has been active since 2020. It will boost up to 110% of energy efficiency operations, also including the installation of charging stations, solar power and Home & Building Automation (leading operations) to renew the existing building stock with smarter buildings and – at the same time as incentives aimed at the purchase of green cars – to develop an ever more sustainable mobility.

Spain aims to decarbonise its energy mix, 74% of electricity being generated by renewable sources. The Spanish climate plan aims to cover 42% of final energy consumptions with renewables, as well as improving energy efficiency by 39.6% and drastically cutting total greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to reductions of CO2 in electricity and transport. 

For the next two years Europe has set up the Recovery plan. This is a ceiling of funds intended for the countries of the Union to finance structural projects, including those to optimise energy transition, improving global efficiency and sustainability.

In general, the setting up of strategies connected to the aims of emission decarbonisation and neutralisation has led to new business models, new drivers and new trends aimed at home working and the use of ever more advanced technologies, which will make homes smarter and companies more directed at digitalisation and the remote monitoring of activities and consumptions.

This prospect for the future is in fact a new paradigm of industrial policy. With this in mind, the wise choice is to rely on a partner like Legrand, world specialist in electrical and digital infrastructures, to set up a complete Energy Efficiency programme, from optimised monitoring systems to improve processes and services, to columns to charge electric vehicles.