EU clean air technology hub : final clean air tech report on development and greater uptake of cleaner solid fuel household heating solutions and evaluation report.
Date: 2023-11-23
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU financing, air quality, clean technology, energy policy, environmental protection, innovation, reduction of gas emissions, report

EU CLEAN AIR TECHNOLOGY HUB 

Final clean air tech report on development and greater uptake 
of cleaner solid fuel household heating solutions 

& 

Evaluation report 

Written by Ramboll 
November – 2023 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Environment 
Directorate C — Zero Pollution 
Unit C.3 — Clean Air and Urban Policy 

Contact:   Alex HURLEY  

E-mail:  ENV-AIR@ec.europa.eu 

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

EU CLEAN AIR TECHNOLOGY HUB 
Final clean air tech report on development and greater uptake 
of cleaner solid fuel household heating solutions 

& 

Evaluation report 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Manuscript completed in September 2022 

LEGAL NOTICE 

This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the 
European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this publication. More information on 
the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu).

PDF 

ISBN 978-92-68-09503-4 

doi:10.2779/6522 

Catalogue number KH-02-23-226-EN-N 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2023 

© European Union, 2023 

The  reuse  policy  of  European  Commission  documents  is  implemented  by  the  Commission  Decision  2011/833/EU  of  12 
December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). Except otherwise noted, the reuse 
of 
is  authorised  under  a  Creative  Commons  Attribution  4.0  International  (CC-BY  4.0)  licence 
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).  This  means  that  reuse  is  allowed  provided  appropriate  credit  is  given  and 
any changes are indicated. 

this  document 

For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the European Union, permission may need to be sought 
directly from the respective rightholders.  

Reference 
Request for services in the context of  
Framework Service Contract EEA/ACC/18/001/LOT2 

k0thx 

Date 
September 2022 

EU CLEAN AIR TECHNOLOGY HUB 

FINAL CLEAN AIR TECH REPORT ON 

DEVELOPMENT AND GREATER 

UPTAKE OF CLEANER SOLID FUEL 
HOUSEHOLD HEATING SOLUTIONS 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EU CLEAN AIR TECHNOLOGY HUB 
FINAL CLEAN AIR TECH REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT AND 
GREATER UPTAKE OF CLEANER SOLID FUEL HOUSEHOLD 
HEATING SOLUTIONS 

Ramboll Head Office 
Hannemanns Allé 53 
DK-2300 Copenhagen S 
Denmark 

T +45 5161 1000 
F +45 5161 1001 
www.ramboll.com 

Rambøll Management 

Consulting A/S 

DK reg.no. 60997918 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
            
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

CONTENTS 

Summary for policy makers 
1. 
1.1 
1.2 

The EU Clean Air Tech hub 
This report 

Introduction 

2. 
2.1 
2.2 
2.3 

3. 
3.1 
3.2 
3.3 
3.4 

4. 

4.1 
4.2 

5. 
5.1 
5.2 

5.3 

5.4 
5.5 

6. 
6.1 
6.2 
6.3 

Mapping of state-of-affairs 

Objective and method 
Results 
Background analysis of similar platforms 

Assessment of technology trends 

Objective and method 
Technology groups 
Screening of technologies 
Conclusions on BATs and BNATs 

Analysis of current and future market demand and market 
trends 

Objective and method 
Market sizing of current technologies 

Analysis of barriers & opportunities 

Objective and method 
Step 1: BAT and BNAT technical capabilities and economic and 
environmental performance 
Step 2: Strengths and weaknesses of emission reduction 
technologies 
Step 3: Results from SWOT analysis for each BAT and BNAT 
Summary of opportunities and barriers for the EU market uptake of 
BAT and BNAT 

Recommendations, action plan & timeline 

Objective and method 
Actionable recommendations 
Action plan and timeline 

1 
4 
4 
4 

6 
6 
7 
19 

29 
29 
33 
43 
49 

52 
52 
52 

73 
73 

74 

79 
79 

86 

88 
88 
88 
93 

Appendix 1 – List of platforms and initiatives 
Appendix 2 – Assessment of brutto list of recommendations 

97 
108 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS 

Abbreviation 

Meaning 

BAT  

BC 

BNAT 

CO 

COPD 

CPR 

DoP 

EC 

EN-standard 

ESP 

IARC 

LSH 

Nrf2 

OC 

OGC 

PAH 

PM 

VOC 

Best Available Technology 

Black Carbon 

Best Not Available Technology 

Carbon Monoxide 

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease  

Construction Products Regulation  

Declaration of Performance  

Elemental carbon 

European Standard 

Electrostatic Precipitator 

International Agency for Research on Cancer  

Local Space Heaters 

Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-related factor 2 

Organic carbon 

Organic Gaseous Compounds  

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons  

Particulate Matter  

Volatile Organic Compounds 

TECHNICAL GLOSSARY 

Term 

Air staging 

Meaning 

Technique where combustion air is inserted in more than one inlet. Typically, as 
primary and secondary air (3.2.3). 

Automated control 
system 

System  with  automatically  controls  the  operation  of  the  appliance,  such  as 
combustion air flow, flue gas fan or similar (3.2.6) 

Boiler 

Heating  appliance,  where  heat  is  transferred  to  a  liquid.  Connected  to  central 
heating (3.2.1). 

Catalytic converter 

Sec. emission reduction technique. Emission are reduced catalytically.  

Cyclone 

Electrostatic 
precipitator 

Emission reduction 
technique 

Household heating 
solutions  

A particle reduction technique. Based on particle inertia. 

Sec.  Emission  reduction  technique.  Particles  are  removed  using  charge  and 
collection plate (3.2.2).   

Technique to reduce emission. Can be further divided into primary and secondary 
emission reduction. 

The term refers to the entire heating installation in a household. E.g., local space 
heater  (LSH)  +  end-of-pipe  solution.  It  encompasses  LSHs,  boilers,  and  slow 
heat release appliances.  

PCM heat exchanger 

Phase  change  material  heat  exchanger.  A  prototype  heat  exchanger  which 
utilizes latent energy of material phase change. 

Primary emission 
reduction 

Emission reduction which takes place inside the combustion appliance, in the hot 
zone. 

Secondary emission 
reduction 

Emission reduction which takes place after the combustion appliance, typically in 
the chimney, in a separate unit. 

Slow heat release 
appliance 

Self-standing  appliance.  Heat  is  stored  to  the  structure  and  radiated  to  the 
surrounding space over time (3.2.1). 

Solid fuel local space 
heater 

Typically, self-standing combustion appliance. Heat is radiated and convected to 
the surrounding space (3.2.1). 

 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

SUMMARY FOR POLICY MAKERS 

The project leading to this final report started on 16 December 2020. Its objective was to support 
setting  up  a  public-private-partnership  across  the  European  Member  States,  including  relevant 
stakeholders dealing with technologies that have a potential to reduce air pollution in the EU arising 
from solid fuel Household Heating Solutions, and to provide insights for the DG Environment on how 
to  most  effectively  set  up  such  and  organisational  structure.  The  involved  stakeholders  include 
Manufacturers,  Authorities,  NGOs,  Research  institutions,  coalitions/Networks/partnerships,  and 
Investment organizations.  

The main objectives for the hub are to:  

  Deploy EU clean air solutions  
 

Facilitate access to EU and national funding, for e.g., research, demonstration, and support 
of roll-out. 

  Stimulate  cooperation  among  European  stakeholders  and  between  industry  and  relevant 

 
 

European national authorities. 
Facilitate knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices across and beyond the EU. 
Improve  communication  about  clean  air  technology  success  stories  and  the  EU’s  role  in 
creating  growth  and  employment  while  delivering  on  core  European  Green  Deal 
environmental and health objectives. 

Recommendation on how to set up a new hub 

The project team has conducted a comprehensive assessment of the current state-of-affairs. This 
includes an overview of previously established  initiatives (nationally and/or at a European level) 
with comparable objectives to those of the Clean Air Tech Hub, e.g., incentivising adoption of new 
technologies,  gathering  stakeholders  across  sectors  and  industries  to  collaborate  on  a  shared 
mission, etc. From each of the assessed initiative key learnings have been derived and condensed 
into five specific learnings that should be kept in mind going forward: 1) Stakeholder initiated and 
driven platforms tend to be more self-sustaining. 2) Platforms with a clearly defined objective and 
mission perform better. 3)  Broad  stakeholder representation increased political legitimacy of the 
platform.  4)  Small  unit  working  groups  ensure  agility  in  problem  solving  while  adhering  to  all 
members.  5)  Leveraging  existing  frameworks  and  initiatives  provides  structure  and  political 
goodwill.  These  learnings  have  been  further  developed  into  specific  recommendations,  and 
objectives.  

Developing the EU Clean Air Technology Hub and report 

To  provide  an  initial  point  of  departure  for  the  Hub,  the  project  team  prepared  a  0-draft  report 
independent  of  stakeholder  input  providing  an  overview  of  the  current  legislation  and  incentive 
programmes in place, a technical assessment and evaluation of relevant technologies, and a market 
forecast for the expected development of the industry across the union. With this starting point, 
the inclusion of stakeholders was initiated through project group meetings and an iterative process 
of  developing  the  Clean  Air  Tech  report.  Here  all  stakeholders  from  the  stakeholder  roster  were 
invited. Throughout  the process,  3 project group meetings have been  conducted each with their 
individual scope in order to ensure continual progress of the project and alignment on the agenda 
of the hub:  

 

Project  group  meeting  1:  Exchange  knowledge  of  BAT1  for  Solid  fuel  Household  Heating 
Solutions 

1 Best Available Technology 

1 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

 

 

Project  group  meeting  2:  Address  the  identified  problems,  options,  and  solutions  for 
developing  and  creating  demand  for  European-made  solid  fuel  Household  Heating  BAT 
Solutions 
Project group meeting 3: Discuss and evaluate the recommendations of the report, and how 
to implement them effectively 

Prior to each project group meeting, the stakeholders received and updated version of the report, 
and  after  each  meeting,  stakeholders  were  offered  the  opportunity  to  provide  comments  and 
suggested changes to the report in writing in addition to the inputs stakeholders provided at the 
project group meetings.  

Arising  from  the  later  process,  the  Clean  Air  Technology  Report  has  developed  12  distinct 
recommendations  for  the  industry  and  stakeholders  to  address  in  order  to  target  the  objectives 
outlined  for  the  hub.  These  differ,  among  others,  in  regard  to  time  horizon,  as  some 
recommendations can yield an immediate impact and/or need to be implemented immediately to 
get the process going, while others fundamentally are long-term impact projects, and processes. 

 Short-term recommendations: 

  Conduct  feasibility  study  with  the  European  Investment  Bank  for  financing  mechanisms 

incentivizing removal of old appliances and a transition to low emission appliances  

  Set  up  national  awareness  campaigns  to  end-users  emphasising  the  4  pillars  to  efficient 
combustion:  (1)  Use  of  correct  fuel,  (2)  purchase  of  right  solution  and  not  only  right 
appliance, (3) Correct installation, (4) Regular maintenance  

  Develop an EU voluntary framework for fuel quality standards across individual fuel types  
Lever knowledge of successful policies and schemes from other countries to translate into 
 
quick wins while working on long-term frame works.  

Medium-term recommendations: 

  Set up EU framework for financial mechanisms to incentivise removal of old appliances an 
transition to BAT (appliances, emission reduction technologies and entire solutions) or other 
low emission solutions  

  Create a centralise R&D fund at an EU level aiming at the optimise integration of emission 

reduction technologies with appliances (focusing on BAT solutions) 

  Create financial mechanisms for setting up this fund (e.g. EU-funds, regional and national 

funds, European Investment bank, Industry) 

  Review Ecodesign requirements before 2024, aligned with current BAT, including the effect 
of  emission  reduction  technologies.  Tiers  of  performance  should  be  outline  in  stead  of  a 
binary compliant /non-compliant categorization  
Integrate  contemporary  BAT  levels  and  the  effect  of  emission  reduction  technologies  in 
review of Energy Labelling Regulation and time it before 2024 

 

Long-term recommendations:  

 

 
 

Focusing  on  the  adoption  of  BAT  solution,  ensure  sufficient  alignment  of  Member  State 
legislation and voluntary agreements to allow for single market while easing the possibility 
for national deviations above the EU level requirements  
Focusing on contemporary BAT solutions, align Member States measures with EU measures  
Focusing on contemporary BAT solutions; scope and practices for test standards for solid 
fuel appliances should be envelope and aligned across the union  

2 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

After the 3rd workshop and the final hand in of the report, DG ENV is currently considering how 
they want to proceed with the project. A decision in regard to their and the project team’s continual 
involvement will be reached at a later stage. However, from the very start of the project it has been 
desired by DG ENV that the hub after the end of the project period would keep running but being 
run by the stakeholders collectively. The hub would thus continue as a place for the stakeholders 
to  engage  with  each  other  and  collectively  drive  the  industry  and  its  solutions  towards  a  more 
sustainable future. Stakeholders can proceed with this regardless of the decision reach by DG ENV.  

3 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

1.1  The EU Clean Air Tech hub 

The  EU  Clean  Air Tech  hub is  planned to be  a public-private-partnership that seeks to engage a 
wide range of stakeholders who deal with technologies that have a potential to reduce air pollution 
in the EU. 

The key objectives of the EU Clean Air Tech Hub are:  

  Deploy EU clean air solutions. 
 

Facilitate access to EU and national funding, for e.g. research, demonstration, and support 
of roll-out. 

  Stimulate  cooperation  among  European  stakeholders  and  between  industry  and  relevant 

 
 

European national authorities. 
Facilitate knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices across and beyond the EU. 
Improve  communication  about  clean  air  technology  success  stories  and  the  EU’s  role  in 
creating  growth  and  employment  while  delivering  on  core  European  Green  Deal 
environmental and health objectives.   

In  doing  so  stakeholders  across  Europe  would  be  invited  to  participate,  including  in  a  line  of 
workshops  in  which  these  discussions  will  be  initiated  and  moderated  until  the  stakeholders 
eventually are to continue the collaboration autonomously.  

The EU Clean Air Tech Hub strives to promote and achieve the objectives of the European Green 
Deal and EU Zero Pollution agenda as it strives to promote the development of the industry toward 
emission reductions and energy efficiency. The Zero pollution agenda is the ambition by the Union 
to actively decouple prosperity from harmful level of pollution2. This agenda was launched as a part 
of  the  European  Green  Deal  strategy  to  implement  the  UN  Sustainable  Development  Goals.  The 
Zero  Pollution  is  thus  an  extension  to  the  elaborate  initiative  of  the  EU  Green  Deal  that  among 
others strive to make the Union carbon neutral by 2050, as well as reducing pollution and problems 
with air quality and by extension improving  the lives of the citizens3. The combination of the EU 
Green  Deal  and  the  Zero  pollution  agenda  collaboratively  provides  a  strong  political  motivation 
towards  emission reductions,  energy  efficiency,  and the  need to improved technologies that can 
facilitate a decoupling between growth in prosperity and  growth in emissions. It is among others 
within this political context that the EU Clean Air Tech Hub is set to function, as it will  be able to 
bring together all relevant stakeholder in order to pursue an uptake in cleaner technologies in the 
industry and among others reduce air pollution in the Union.  

1.2  This report 

This report is the final deliverable of a pilot project that aimed to identify technologies and provide 
recommendations on their uptake, focusing on cleaner, reliable and affordable solid fuel household 
heating solutions. 

The  urgency  to  address  cleaner  solutions  for  solid  fuel  household  heating  solutions  is  also 
highlighted by the European Environment Agency4 as well as the DG ENV impact assessment5 of 
the European air quality policy. They estimate that every year, PM and other ambient air pollution 
contribute  to  worsen  quality  of  life  and  losses  of  lives  among  others  through  respiratory  and 

2 https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2020/the-european-commission-s-zero 

3 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/fs_19_6714 

4 Air quality in Europe 2019 — European Environment Agency (europa.eu) 

5 EUR-Lex - 52013SC0531 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)  

4 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

cardiovascular diseases, attributable to the combined effects of multiple environmental stressors. 
These effects often impact the most vulnerable citizens, including children, people with pre-existing 
medical  conditions,  the  elderly,  and  people  living  in  socio-economic  deprivation6.  Overall,  air 
pollution  is  still  the  largest  environmental  health  risk  in  the  EU.  In  this  regard  large  portions  of 
particulate  matter  arise  from  solid  fuel  household  heating  solutions.  Fostering  a  development 
towards  cleaner  technologies  will  therefore  yield  substantial  reductions  in  PM  and  gaseous 
emissions. It is thus necessary to focus on appliances and filtering technologies to reduce the PM 
and gaseous emissions to an acceptable level.  

It is acknowledged that technologies building on combustion of solid fuels will cause air pollution as 
a  result  of  the  combustion.  As  such,  even  realizing  significant  emission  reduction  from  the 
appliances targeted in the Hub, the technologies will not be in line with the Zero Pollution ambitions 
in the long run. However, in the short- and medium-term we are facing significant emissions from 
the use of solid fuel-based heating appliances, which needs to be addressed and reduced as quickly 
as possible. The work of the Hub is to facilitate the uptake of cleaner, more reliable, and affordable 
solid  fuel  household  heating  solutions  subsequently  allowing  for  immediate  emissions  reduction. 
The uptake of such cleaner and more efficient solid fuel heating solutions should be by consumers 
who cannot yet access appliances in line with the zero-emission agenda. This could be because of 
a lack of affordability of such solutions.  

This final report is the continuation to the 0-draft, 1-draft and 2-draft reports and incorporates the 
feedback provided by the stakeholders on those prior versions. 

This final report presents the revised previous chapters:  

  Chapter 1: Introduction  
  Chapter 2: Mapping of state-of-affairs  
  Chapter 3: Assessment of technology trends  
  Chapter 4: Analysis of current and future market demand and market trends. 

Moreover,  it  presents  the  identified  opportunities  and  barriers,  the  recommendations  and  the 
timeline structured in the following way: 

  Chapter 5: Analysis of barriers and opportunities. 
  Chapter 6: Recommendations, action plan and timeline. 

The  Clean  Air  Technology  Report  provides  recommendations  to  facilitate  the  development  and 
uptake  of  these  of  clean,  reliable,  and  affordable  solid  fuel  household  heating  solutions  in  the 
European Union. This was established using the technical, market, and strategic analyses presented 
in the report.  

6 Unequal exposure and unequal impacts — European Environment Agency (europa.eu) 

5 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

2.  MAPPING OF STATE-OF-AFFAIRS 

2.1  Objective and method 

legislation, 

The objective of this chapter is to establish an overview of the state-of-affairs of solid fuel household 
heating  solutions  from  regulatory  and  market  perspectives.  This  assessment  includes  relevant 
policies, 
industry-driven  actions, 
subsidies/funding/taxation  schemes,  public  production/procurement,  or  awareness  campaigns 
(hereafter called “initiatives”) at EU and Member State level, that  have an influence on the solid 
fuel  household  heating  solutions  market  with  regards  to  air  pollution.  This  is  a  non-exhaustive 
review, and only those initiatives that were found most relevant are shown. 

standards,  voluntary  agreements, 

test 

The  resulting  mapping  provides  a  consolidated  picture  of  these  initiatives  and  their  respective 
influence. This information was used as a starting point in the subsequent tasks of the project:  

 

 

 

and 

communications  with 

The  technology  assessment  uses  information  from  the  reviewed  initiatives,  such  as 
technology  initiatives,  developments,  focus  areas,  from  published  reports,  scientific 
publications 
limits 
promoted/imposed by different initiatives.  
The  market  analysis  leverages  the  insights  from  the  specific  initiatives  and  incorporates 
their impact in the market sizing. 
The  lessons-learned  from  the  reviewed  initiatives  will  feed  into  the  opportunities  and 
barriers analysis, and subsequent recommendations to support the development and uptake 
of cleaner technologies.  

stakeholders, 

emissions 

and 

We conducted the mapping in three steps as shown in Figure 2.1. 

Figure 2.1 Stepwise approach for the mapping of state-of-affairs 

Step 1. Establish list of 
initiatives

Step 2. Describe 
influence of initiatives

Step 3 . Map 
interactions across 
initiatives

  Step  1  -  We  established  the  list  of  relevant  initiatives7,  ongoing  or  planned  in  a  near 

foreseeable future. For each initiative, we compiled the below characteristics: 

Initiative name 

o 
o  Type and sub-type of initiative 
o  Responsible entity 
o  Product scope 
o  Geographical scope  
o  Temporal scope 
o  Concise description of the initiative 
o  Source(s) 

  Step 2 - We identified the influence the initiatives have on the solid fuel household heating 
solutions  focusing  on  air  pollution  aspects,  e.g.  specific  product  requirements  such  as 
emissions  limits,  economic  incentives  for  specific  technologies  or  retrofitting  of  old 
appliances. At EU level, we also captured indirect influence from initiatives in adjacent fields.  
  Step 3 - We developed a schematic overview of the state-of-affairs describing at high-level 
the different types of initiatives in the EU and Member States, their influence on solid fuel 
household heating solutions, and their links. 

7 With ‘initiatives’ we refer to policies, regulations, directives, market incentives and standards related to air quality, pollution 

and energy efficiency 

6 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

We  used  desktop  research  to  inform  the  analysis  which  built  primarily  on  information  and  data 
gathered in existing literature8,9,10,11,12,13,14, and targeted web searches to collect further information 
on  individual  initiatives.  To  ensure  a  comprehensive  understanding  of  national  initiatives  in  the 
Member States, we collected additional input through a stakeholder survey. The results of this will 
be incorporated in the next revision of the report after first project group meeting.  

2.2  Results  

We  have  identified  95 initiatives,  including  1  at  an  international  level,  19  at  EU  level,  and  75  in 
Member  States  (EU-27)  through  literature  review.  Additionally,  further  initiatives  have  been 
highlighted by stakeholders. We classified the initiatives into five main groups: policies, legislations, 
voluntary agreements, financial incentives, and awareness raising. Table 2.1 shows the distribution 
per type of initiatives.  Germany, France, Italy and Poland have highest number of initiatives. So 
far, we have not identified any initiative in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, 
Romania  and  Slovenia,  but  we  will  discuss  this  further  at  first  project  group  meeting  and  will 
incorporate additional initiatives in the next version of the report, if relevant. 

Figure 2.2 Distribution of identified initiatives in Member States per type of initiatives 

Table 2.1 presents the policy and legislative landscape around solid fuel household heating solutions 
at EU level (and a couple of international initiatives which are also relevant and very important in 
this  section).  The  EU  Ecodesign  and  labelling  regulations  have  a  direct impact on  the  sector,  by 
setting  minimum  Ecodesign  and  labelling  requirements  for  appliances  placed  on  the  EU  market. 
Additionally, we identified adjacent areas of policy/legislations that are having an indirect influence 
on the sector. These are: environment & pollution, energy efficiency & renewable energy, air quality, 
buildings.  These  initiatives  influence  national  emission  reduction  strategies  and  control  of 
atmospheric concentration of pollutants, actions towards increasing renewable energy supply and 
energy efficiency and reducing energy demand notably in buildings.   

8 https://www.applia-europe.eu/images/Library/Preparatory_study_for_local_space_heaters_-_2019.pdf  

9 https://www.ademe.fr/chauffage-domestique-qualite-lair-benchmark-international  

10 https://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pdf/clean_air_outlook_combustion_sources_report.pdf  

11 http://www.cleanaircities.net/get-guidebook/  

12 EU Ultra-Low Dust project, Final Information Material and Policy Recommendations (D7.6), 2014 

13 Residential wood burning Environmental impact and sustainable solutions – Clean heat 2019 

14 https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/unequal-exposure-and-unequal-impacts  

7 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 2.1 Policy and legislative landscape in the EU 

Initiative 

Temporal scope 

Short description/relevance 

Environment & Pollution 

European Green Deal 

 

A EU framework to transform the EU into a modern, 
resource-efficient and competitive economy. A series 
of  relevant  initiatives  have  arisen  since  its  adoption 
such as the Zero Pollution Action Plan and Roadmap. 

in 
Presented 
2019 
and 
adopted  in  2020 
with  an  ongoing 
series 
of 
initiatives 
regularly 
established since 
its adoption  

EU's Eight Environment 
Action Programme  

 

To be adopted in 
2021  

 

Adopted  in  May 
2021 

EU Zero Pollution 
Action Plan and 
Roadmap: “Towards a 
Zero Pollution Ambition 
for air, water and soil – 
building a Healthier 
Planet for Healthier 
People” 

Energy efficiency & Renewable Energy 

EU Directive 
2018/2002 amending 
EU Directive 2012/27 
on energy efficiency 

 

In force 

EU Directive 
2018/2001 – The 
revised Renewable 
Energy EU Directive 

 

In force  

The 8th EAP proposal calls for active engagement of 
all stakeholders at all levels of governance, to ensure 
that EU climate and environment laws are effectively 
implemented. It forms the EU’s basis for achieving the 
United  Nation’s 2030  Agenda and 
its Sustainable 
Development Goals. 

6  priority  objectives:  1  Climate  neutral  in  2050,  2 
reducing  vulnerability  to  climate  change,  3  Circular 
economy, 4 Zero-pollution ambition, 5 biodiversity – 
enhancing  natural capital,  6  reducing  environmental 
and climate pressure 15 

The  Zero pollution  action plan  roadmap  outlines  the 
problem  and  need  for  action  to  better  prevent  and 
remedy pollution from air, water, soil, and consumer 
products. 

It  focuses  on  strengthening  implementation  and 
enforcement, 
seeking 
improvements to the governance of pollution policies 
(incl. monitoring) and drive societal change. 

knowledge, 

improving 

Requires  MS  to  put  measures  in  place  to  save  on 
average 4.4% of their annual energy consumption by 
2030. 

Aims  to  ensure  more  efficient  use  of  energy  and 
among  others  reduced  energy  consumption  for 
households  

The  revision  aims  to  provide  insights  into  how  the 
directive  could  help  achieve  a  higher  level  of  GHG 
emission  reduction  by  2030  and  contribute  to  other 
European Green Deal initiatives. 

Binding  EU  target  of  at  least  32%  of  EU  energy 
consumption to be renewable for 2030 with a review 
for increasing this figure in 2023 

Aims to create an enabling environment to accelerate 
public  and  private  investment  in  innovation  and 
modernisation  in  among  others  the  cooling  and 
heating sector. And will provide guiding principles on 
financial  support  schemes  for  renewable  energy, 
energy communities and district heating.  

15 https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/environment-action-programme-2030_bg 

8 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Initiative 

Temporal scope 

Short description/relevance 

Regulation (EU) 
2018/1999 – The new 
Governance Regulation 

 

In force 

Air quality 

UNECE 1999 
Gothenburg Protocol to 
Abate Acidification, 
Eutrophication and 
Ground-level Ozone 
(Gothenburg 
Protocol)16 

 

Initiated in 1999, 
Protocol 
in 
amended 
2012 and revised 
Protocol  entered 
into  force  on  7 
Oct 2019 

EU Clean Air Policy 
package 

 

Package 
published  on  18 
Dec 2013 

EU Ambient Air Quality 
Directives (AAQ) 
(2008/50/EC and 
2004/107/EC) 

 

In force, possible 
revision  of  AAQs 
planned for 2022 

16 Note that this initiative is at a global level  

17 FAQ provided on the Commission’s website (link) 

Criteria for biofuels (lower GHG emissions and other 
sustainability criteria) and aim to mainstream the use 
of  renewable  energy  systems  in  the  heating  sector, 
among others 

Member  States  were  required  to  develop  integrated 
National Energy and Climate Plans for 2021 to 2030, 
outlining  how  they  plan  to  achieve  the  targets  and 
submit the draft to the European Commission by the 
end of 2018 

National emission ceilings for sulphur (SO2), nitrogen 
oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 
ammonia (NH3) 

Ratified  by  the  European  Union  and  many  Member 
States in 2017. The Gothenburg protocol is currently 
under review.  

Sets  national  emission  reduction  commitments  for 
2020 for 5 air pollutants. Has developed a guidance 
and code of good practice for solid fuel burning and 
small  combustion  installations  (focus  on  domestic 
wood local space heaters (fireplaces and stoves) and 
domestic wood boilers) 

The Gothenburg protocol is implemented in the EU via 
a  range  of  EU  Directives,  most  notably  the  NEC 
Directive (EU 2016/2284) 

Contains the Clean Air programme for Europe, which 
is  a  Commission  strategy  outlining  the  measures  to 
ensure that existing targets are met and setting out 
new air quality objectives for the period for 2020 and 
2030.  This  includes  the  objective  to  cut  the  health 
impacts of air pollution by half in 2030 compared with 
2005.  The  Clean  Air  Programme  for  Europe  also 
contained proposals for revision of the NEC Directive 
and  a  proposal  for  a  new  Directive  on  Medium 
Combustion Plants.  

Domestic  heating  referred  to  as  one  key  activity 
resulting  in  air  pollution,  possible  measures  for  MS 
mentioned are local or regional restrictions on the use 
of solid fuels (coal) for small scale heating, economic 
incentives  (e.g.  fees/taxes/road  pricing  schemes) 
e.g.  for  retrofits  and  small  combustion  appliances 
(heating); promoting better building insulation17 

Limits the atmospheric concentrations of a variety of 
pollutants, including PM10, NO2, PM2.5 and SO in the 
air  for  the  EU  ("air  quality  standards").  2008/50/EC 
covers PM2.5 (fine particles), SO2, NO2, PM10, NO2, 
Pb,  CO,  benzene,  ozone,  while  2004/107/EC  covers 
arsenic, cadmium, nickel and PAHs.  

9 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Initiative 

Temporal scope 

Short description/relevance 

 

In force 

National Emission 
Reduction 
Commitments (NEC) 
Directive (EU 
2016/2284) 

Buildings 

EU Directive 2018/844 
- amending the 
existing Directive 
2010/31/EU on Energy 
Performance of 
Buildings 

Regulation (EU) 
305/2011 for 
construction products 
(CPR) 

 

In force 

 

In force 

Local space heating & boilers 

Commission Regulation 
(EU) 2015/1185 on 
eco-design 
requirements for solid 
fuel local space heaters 

 

Entered 
into 
force  on  1  Jan 
2022 

Possible revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directives 
planned  for  2022;  as  part  of  EU  Green  Deal  and 
building on the fitness check finalised in 2019, the EU 
is investigating how to align its air quality standards 
more closely with the recommendations of the WHO 
(Air  Quality  Guidelines  of  the  WHO  currently  under 
revision) 

National  emission  reduction  commitments  for  the  5 
pollutants  (sulphur  dioxide,  nitrogen  oxides,  VOCs, 
ammonia and fine particulate matter) responsible for 
acidification,  eutrophication  and  ground-level  ozone 
pollution 

Member  States  had  to  submit  National  Air  Pollution 
Control Programmes by 1 April 2019 

Transposes the emission reduction commitments for 
2020 taken by the EU and its MS at international level 
under the revised Gothenburg Protocol and sets more 
ambitious  emission  reduction  commitments  as  from 
2030, so as to cut the health impacts of air pollution 
by half in 2030 compared with 2005. 

The Directive will be revised in 2025. 

Aims  to  accelerate  the  cost-effective  renovation  of 
existing  buildings, with  the  vision  of  a decarbonised 
building  stock  by  2050  and  the  mobilisation  of 
investments 

Better insulation of buildings will reduce the need for 
heating, and indirectly local space heating demand 

Harmonised  rules  for  the  marketing  of  construction 
products 
including  space  heating 
appliances,  requires  tests  to  be  performed  by  a 
Notified Body 

the  EU, 

in 

A harmonised standard for measurement of PM from 
solid  fuel  local  space  heaters  has  been  proposed 
under  the  regulation  as  currently  in  an  adoption 
process.  

Minimum  ecodesign  requirements  for  the  placing  on 
the market and putting into service of new solid fuel 
Local  Space  Heaters  (LSH).  Requirements  on 
seasonal  space  heating  energy  efficiency,  emissions 
of  particulate  matter,  emissions  of  organic  gaseous 
compounds,  emissions  of  carbon  monoxide  and 
emissions of nitrogen oxides. 

Standardised measurement methods will be provided 
for  conformity  assessment,  currently  transitional 
methods of measurements and calculations apply. 

The  Commission  will  propose  a  revision  of  the 
Regulation by the 1st of January 2024 at the latest. 

Commission Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 

 

In force 

Requirements  for  the  energy  labelling  of,  and  the 
provision  of  supplementary  product  information  on 

10 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Initiative 

Temporal scope 

Short description/relevance 

2015/1186 on energy 
labelling of local space 
heaters 

Commission Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 
2015/1187 on energy 
labelling of solid fuel 
boilers 

Commission Regulation 
(EU) 2015/1189 on 
eco-design 
requirements for solid 
fuel boilers 

 

In force 

 

In force 

domestic  solid  fuel  LSH  (excl.  electrical  appliances), 
including  energy  efficiency  classes,  label  format, 
product  and 
technical 
documentation. 

information,  and 

label 

The  most  efficient  label  (A++)  is  only  applicable  to 
solid fuel LSH that use wood pellets 

Requirements  for  the  energy  labelling  of,  and  the 
provision  of  supplementary  product  information  on 
woody  biomass  boilers,  including  energy  efficiency 
classes, label format, product and label information, 
and technical documentation 

Minimum  ecodesign  requirements  for  the  placing  on 
the market and putting into service of new solid fuel 
boilers.  Requirements  on  seasonal  space  heating 
energy  efficiency,  emissions  of  particulate  matter, 
organic  gaseous  compounds,  carbon  monoxide  and 
nitrogen oxides. 

Standardised  measurement  method  provided  for 
conformity assessment. 

Table 2.2 shows the different types of identified legislations concerning solid fuel household heating 
solutions in Member States. Some legislations apply at a national level (e.g. Immission Control Act 
in  Germany  and  Royal  Decree  of  12/10/2010  in  Belgium),  while  others  apply  in  regions  (e.g. 
interdiction to install woody biomass heating appliances below 3 stars in areas and cities situated 
300 meters above sea level in the Emilia Romagna region, Italy) or at city level (e.g. ban on solid 
fuels in Krakow, Poland). Most commonly, legislations concern the placing on the market (or sales) 
or  installation/replacement  of  appliances,  while  there  are  also  some  examples  of  legislations 
considering the utilisation of appliances. The former promotes the modernisation of existing stock 
of appliances, whereas the latter directly regulates the use of appliances. Fewer legislations concern 
fuels. 

Table 2.2 Identified types of legislations in Member States 

Type 

Countries18 

Sales, installation, and replacement 

Standards for appliances 

Standards for placing appliances on the market 

 

 

IT, DK 

BE, CZ, DK, GR, HU, PT 

Standards for placing fuels on the market 

  GR, IE*, SK 

Standards for installation/replacement of appliances 

  DE, IT*, SE, PL 

Bans on certain types of appliances for 
installation/replacement 

Utilisation 

 

FR, LV*, IT*, DK, DK* 

Utilisation ban on (poorly performing) appliances 

 

CZ, DE, DE*, IT*, FR* 

Utilisation ban on (poorly performing) fuels 

  DK, DE, PL*, IT*  

Utilisation restrictions during pollution alerts 

  DE*, FR*, IT* 

Utilisation restrictions regarding duration/frequency 

 

FR, GR, SE 

18 Asterisks indicate that the legislation is at regional or local level 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Type 

Diverse control of appliances 

Mandatory maintenance 

Countries18 

  DE, SK, IT 

Approval of local authorities for new installations 

 

SK 

Table  2.3  lists  the  identified  voluntary  agreements  for  appliances  and/or  fuels.  Fuel-focused 
voluntary  agreements  certify  wood-derived  and  other  biomass-based  fuels.  Some  voluntary 
agreements co-exist with legislations at national or local level in several countries. They typically 
set additional requirements on the sourcing of raw materials and manufacturing steps (e.g. Nordic 
Swan, Blue Angel, Umweltzeichen 37).   

Table 2.3 Identified voluntary agreements 

Name 

Countries  Product scope 

EU 

 

Limited information 

Quality label 
for biomass 
combustion 
(under 
development)  

Umweltzeichen 
37 (UZ37) 

AT 

 
 

Appliances: wood or pellet boilers/stoves manual or automatic  
Fuel: compact wood-based fuels such as pellets and briquettes made 
from bark and/or wood chips. 

Önorm 
certificate 
M7135  

AT 

 

Fuels: wood pellets 

Blue Angel 

DE 

Nordic Swan 
ecolabel 

DK, FI, SE 

 

 
 

Appliances: Stoves for wood (DE-UZ 212); Precipitators (DE-UZ 222, 
for retrofitting) 

Appliances: boilers for solid biofuel and a wide range of stoves 
Fuels:  solid  fuels  and  fire  lightning  products  (barbeque  charcoal, 
briquettes, firelighters, firewood, pellets and wood chips) 

Certificate for 
low emission 
sauna stoves 
(under 
development) 

Specifications 
set by France 
Bois Bûche 

Green Flame 
label 

Aria Pulita 
label 

Wood Fuel 
Quality 
Assurance 

Biomassplus® 
certification 
scheme 

FI 

 

Appliances: sauna stoves 

FR 

FR 

IT 

IE 

 

Fuels: biomass fuels 

 

Appliances: wood-burning boilers and stoves 

 

Appliances: biomass-burning stoves, fireplaces, and boilers 

 

Fuels: Quality of wood sold on the market  

IT  

 

Fuels: briquettes, wood chips and wood logs 

ENplus® 

EU 

 

Fuels: wood pellets 

12 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Name 

Countries  Product scope 

EU 

 

Appliances: biomass appliances 

European 
Quality Label 
(EQL) for 
biomass 
appliances 
(expected 
introduction of 
the label in 
2022) 

Table 2.4 shows different types of financial incentives identified in the Member States and provides 
illustrative  examples.  We  identified  two  high-level  types  of  financial  incentives:  time-bound  or 
continuous. Time-bound programmes are mainly associated either with a legislation change, or with 
a national or local programme/project. Whether timebound or continuous, financial incentives can 
be tax reductions, subsidies (e.g. percentage of the purchase value with a maximum value and/or 
income-dependent), or low-interest loans. We found examples where financial support covers both 
the replacement of a poorly performing appliance and the realisation of building renovation work 
(e.g. “Stog” programme in Poland). Certain financial incentives are linked to voluntary agreements, 
e.g. Flamme Verte in France, or standards e.g. star-classification standard in Italy.  

Table 2.4 Identified types of financial incentives 

Type 

Timebound 

Financial  

Countries  Example(s) 

CZ, DE, 
PL, IE 

Financial support for replacement of combustion appliances 
(Germany, Munich, From 2021): financial support up to 50% of 
the cost for pellet stoves with water pocket and biomass boilers  
(connected legislation: utilisation ban of appliances non-compliant 
with emission limits of 27 July 2011) 

Boilers subsidies as part of the OPE 2014–2020, also called 
Kotlíková subsidies (Czech Republic, 2014-2020): subsidies for 
households to replace poor-performing solid fuel boilers with 
modern low-emission boilers (i.e. heat pump, gas condensing boilers 
or biomass boiler), covers 75-80% with a maximum limit 
(connected legislation: utilisation ban of non-performing coal-
burning boilers in accordance with the Air Protection Act) 

Subsidies to replace solid fuel heating appliances (Poland, 
Malopolska region, 2013-2018): subsidy of up to 100% for the 
replacement of devices over the period 2013-2016, then up to 80% 
(2017) and 60% (2018). (connected legislations: utilisation ban of 
solid fuels in Kracow, Utilisation ban of certain solid fuels in 
Mapolska region, and utilisation ban of solid fuel stoves non-
compliant with ecodesign requirements in Mapolska region) 

National home Retrofit Scheme (Ireland) 
The government offers from 35-80% funding to energy upgrades of 
household in Ireland. It is meant to encourage a one-stop-shop for 
groups of households who wish to participate in delivering home 
energy upgrades, specifically in domestic buildings.   

Financial support as 
part of national 
programme or project 

IT, PL 

"Stop smog" programme (Poland, 2019-2024): covers the 
replacement of poorly-performing heating systems by systems 
meeting low-emission standards and building upgrade construction 

13 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Type 

Countries  Example(s) 

work in single-family residential buildings to systems, with a co-
financing between the state and the municipality, enabling financing 
up to 100% of project value from public funds 

Subsidies to biomass heating appliances, as part of “Project 
PrepAIR”(Italy, Venetia reg 2017-2024): financial support for 
replacing wood-burning heating appliances with appliances with a 
minimum of 4 stars. 

Other subsidy 
programmes 

DK, SE 

Different subsidies campaigns (Denmark, 2008-2009; 2015 
and 2019): financial support for the replacement of old stoves or 
boilers by more efficient appliance or by any polluting heating.  

Continuous 

Diverse financial 
schemes  

BE, FR, IT 

“Fonds Air Bois” (France, several regions): subsidies for switching 
to new wood‐burning appliances complying with Flamme Verte (7 
stars) in regions where PM pollution in particularly high due to 
biomass combustion. 

“Primes Habitations” (Belgium, Wallonia): income-based bonus 
for the installation of biomass-burning boilers and stoves and access 
to low-interest loan for renovation work and purchase of 
boiler/stove 

Conto Termico (Italy, national level): incentive scheme focussed 
on the substitution of obsolete, high emission, biomass appliances 
with new efficient and clean appliances. The incentive covers around 
65% of the new appliance. 

Ecobonus (Italy, national level): tax deduction for energy 
efficiency. When replacing fossil fuel appliances, replacements need 
to comply with “5 stars” efficiency. In the case of biofuel appliances, 
replacements need to comply with “4 stars” efficiency. Efficiencies 
defined in Italian legislation.  

Table 2.5 shows different types of awareness raising initiatives identified in the Member States and 
provides  illustrative  examples.  We  found  two  high-level  types  of  awareness  raising  initiatives: 
consumer  information  platforms  and  campaigns/actions.  Consumer  information  platforms  are 
typically  hosted  by  governmental  agencies.  Campaigns/actions  are  either  driven  by  public 
authorities, e.g. information campaign in the context of a national programme on air pollution, or 
organised  by  industry  players,  e.g.  the  branch  organisation  HKI  in  Germany  using  a  traffic  light 
system  to  raise  awareness  around  appliance  performance  or  the  non-profit  organisation  Energy 
Tyrol in Austria proposing training sessions to individuals. Typically, awareness raising initiatives 
provide  information  to  individuals  on  health  impacts,  best  practices,  national  regulations,  and 
financing opportunities.  

Table 2.5 Identified types of awareness raising initiatives 

Platform 

Countries 

Example(s) 

Consumer information platforms 

Websites 

AT, BE, DK, 
FR, GR, IE, 
SE, IT, NL, 
DE 

“Richtig Heizen” website (Austria): government-led information 
platform on combustion heating, focusing more particularly on wood 
heating, on pollutant emissions and the associated health effects. 

“Braendefyringsportalen” (Denmark): government-led information 
platform on the choice of wood stoves, advice on use, frequently asked 
questions. 

14 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Platform 

Countries 

Example(s) 

Other type 

NL 

Campaigns/actions 

EE, NL 

ES, FI, HU, 
IT, PT 

Regular 
awareness 
raising 
campaigns 

Awareness 
raising 
campaigns in 
relation with 
national air 
pollution 
programmes or 
national 
projects 

Training 

AT, FR, PL 

Demonstration, 
shows 

CZ, SK 

Ratings 

DE 

“Energiadallegno” (Italy): web-portal promoting the application of 
biofuel appliances from domestic uses to industrial applications. 

“Betterstoken” (Netherlands): consumer website providing information 
on improved heating with biomass. Also provides a list of all Ecodesign 
approved appliances and provides the agenda to all biomass heating free 
courses given throughout the country. The website is operated by the 
Dutch trade organisation NHK. 

“Wood heating alarm” (Netherland): alert triggered when predicting 
pollution episodes (forecasting bad weather and air quality) by province 
and recommendation not to burn wood for 24 hours. 

Regular campaigns (Estonia): latest campaign aimed at individuals and 
focused on how to properly use domestic boilers and stoves, how to start 
combustion and what type of fuel to use, supported with online 
videos/tutorials. 

EIB’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for Horizon 
2021-2030 (Portugal): recommendations towards individuals, 
businesses and public services regarding replacing and using heating 
solutions that use more efficient renewable energies, including biomass 
boilers, and the use of pellets instead of logs. 

National Air Pollution Control Program 2030, Guide to Better 
Combustion (Finland): guide containing information on risks generated 
by fine particles, problems connected to wood heating, existing laws in the 
country; cooperation with schools, leisure associations, residential areas 
(housing estates, etc.), saunas clubs; encourage local authorities to raise 
awareness on the topic. 

Malopolska project (Poland): training of eco-managers (approx. 60 in 
the Mapolska region) who assist local authorities in developing, financing, 
and implementing air quality improvement strategies and communicate to 
citizens regulatory standards and financing options. 

Awareness campaign by the non-profit company Tyrol Energy 
about energy in residential and tertiary sector (Austria, Tyrol 
region): information and training sessions for professionals and 
communities, incl. skills development in building technology and energy-
efficient construction; advice by phone, at advice centers or at home; 
dedicated actions for children.  

Club of professionals of wood heating systems (France, Grenoble 
area): club gathering signatories of a chart on clean air, training and 
advising customers to reduce the environmental impact of residential 
wood heating, and informing on subsidies offered by the state and 
local/regional authorities for replacement of non‐efficient heating devices. 

"Smoke-man"  campaign  (Czech  Republic):  educational  show 
‘Smokeman in action’ organised by Energy Research Center for children and 
adults about proper combustion practices in local space heating. 

Traffic light rating for heating appliances (Germany): classification 
scale for single room heating appliances in the form of a simple traffic 
light system, created by HKI and Federal Association of chimney sweeps, 
and estimating the emissions of existing heating appliances; information 
communicated to households by local chimney sweeps, with the goal is to 
accelerate the replacement of old appliances.  

15 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table  2.6  shows  an  overview  of  the  existing  particulate  matter  (PM)  determination  standards19. 
Standards cover different methods for PM determination. These are:  

 
 
 

PM Sampling in the hot flue gas  
PM Sampling in the diluted (cooled) flue gas  
PM  sampling  via  electrostatic  precipitators  integrated  in  the  hot  flue  gas  section  (Only 
available  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  the  British  Standard  PD6434.  We  have  therefore  not 
included the method in this report) 

Methods used in the United States and Australia/New Zealand are not included.  

Table 2.6 Identified test standards 

Method 

PM Sampling in the hot flue gas 

PM Sampling in the diluted flue gas 

Standard20  

VDI 2066-1 
(Germany & 
Austria) 

FprEN 16510-1 
(suggested for 
Europe) 

NS 3058-2 
(Norway) 

prEN 16510-1 
(suggested for 
Europe, 
alternatively) 

Nozzle 
orientation 

180°, against gas 
flow 

180°, against gas 
flow 

180°, against gas 
flow 

180°, against gas 
flow 

Nozzle size 

At least 8 mm 

10 mm 

Not stated 

10 mm 

Isokinetic 
sampling 

Filter material 

Filter retention 

How many plane 
filters? 

Diameter of 
plane filter 

Filtration 
temperature 

Temperature at 
filter treatment 

Yes 

Not stated 

Quartz fibre or 
glass fibre stuffed 
quartz wool 
cartridge at high 
dust load (above 
50 mg/m³) 

Quartz fibre filters; 
if more than 100 
mg/m³ use a 
quartz wool pre 
filter 

99.5 % für 0.3 µm 
und 99.9 % für 0.6 
µm 

99.95 % with a 
mean particle 
diameter of 0.3 µm 

proportionally, 
0.015 m³/min at 
mean velocity of 
3.33 m/s in tunnel 

Not stated 

Glass fibre 

Glass fibre 

nominal pore 
diameter of 1.0 µm 

99.95 % on 0.3 
µm 

1 plane filter At 
high dust load: 
additional stuffed 
cartridge 

instack (50 mm), 
outstack 50-150 
mm 

1 plane filter 

2 filters in series 
not more than 100 
mm apart 

2 filters in series 
which are not more 
than 100 mm apart 

Not specified 

approx. 100 mm 

At least 160 °C 

Maximum of 160°C  below 35 °C 

180°C for 1 h and 
at least for 4 h in 
desiccator 

desiccator for 24 
h-36 h at ambient 
temperature 

Pretreatment at 
180°C for 1 h, 
after treatment at 
160°C for 1 h, 
always storage in 
desiccator for at 
least 8 h 

filter housing at 
ambient air temp, 
but above 20°C 

desiccator for 24 h 
at 35 K above 
sampling T, but 
not more than 180 
°C 

19 3 methods are currently allowed under 2015/1185 to measure PM when putting solid fuel local space heaters on the 
market. These are: 1) PM sampling over the heated filter 2) Sampling over full burn cycle at ambient temperature 3) 
Sampling over 30 minute periods. However, a new harmonised method is currently in development under the Construction 
product regulation. 

20 Overview of standards provided by IEA Bioenergy in their Technical report found here. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Method 

PM Sampling in the hot flue gas 

PM Sampling in the diluted flue gas 

Standard20  

VDI 2066-1 
(Germany & 
Austria) 

FprEN 16510-1 
(suggested for 
Europe) 

NS 3058-2 
(Norway) 

Rinsing 
considered? 

Yes, done twice 
with water and 
once with acetone. 
Mass of deposits is 
regarded as PME 

Yes, with acetone, 
but mass of 
deposits is not 
regarded 

Yes, three times 
with acetone and 
brushed 

prEN 16510-1 
(suggested for 
Europe, 
alternatively) 

Yes, with acetone 

Figure 2.3 summarises the above analysis by providing a schematic overview of the state-of-affairs. 
It explains  concisely  how  the different  initiatives influence  solid fuel  household  heating  solutions 
and displays the links between initiatives.  

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 2.3 Schematic overview of the state-of-affairs 

18 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

2.3  Background analysis of similar platforms 

One key objective of this project is to set up the EU Clean Air Tech Hub. The EU Clean Air Tech Hub 
is expected to support the development and uptake of cleaner, affordable and reliable technologies 
in the EU.  

Comparable platforms exist today, dealing with different topics such as circular economy or energy 
efficient technologies.  

The aim of the background analysis of comparable platforms is two-fold: 

 

Illustrate different platform setups, to inform DG ENV on different options for the EU Clean 
Air Hub. 

  Collect lessons-learned from similar platforms, to derive recommendations for the EU Clean 

Air Hub. 

Our analysis has been conducted in three steps, as shown in Figure 2.4.  

The outcome of the background analysis of similar platforms is two-fold: 

  A table including the name of the selected platforms, a short description of the platform, 

information on the platform setup, and key lessons-learned. 

  Synthetic recommendations on how to organise the platform and project groups. 

Figure 2.4 Stepwise approach for the background analysis of similar platforms 

Step 1. Select 
relevant 
platforms

Step 2. Map the 
setup of selected 
platforms

Step 3 . Collect 
lessons-learned 
and derive 
recommendations 

  Step 1 - We are establishing a list of relevant platforms included in the analysis. We have 
started  from  the  list  presented  in  Table  2.7,  which  is  based  on  the  two  documents21,22 
provided by DG  ENV containing lists of  platforms (incl. background  information).  We  are 
using a snowballing approach to identify more platforms, via desktop research and contact 
with Ramboll experts in different European geographies. The list of platforms is not meant 
to be exhaustive and it will contain max. 30 platforms in the initial assessment, ensuring a 
fair representation of the different European regions (i.e. North, South, West and East), and 
covering a range of platform setups (see step 2).  

  Step 2 - We are mapping the setup of selected platforms in a table, by compiling for each 

platform (to the extent that the information is available): 

o  Concise description of the platform 
o 
o  Type of platform (e.g. EU initiated, government-backed platform, initiative led by a 

Level (e.g. EU, specific country, specific region) 

regional agency, business network)   

o  Type of participants (e.g. industry, NGO, financing organisations, research institutes 
o  Type  of  actions  (e.g.  policy-related  work,  award/competition,  public  private 

partnership, action plan development, incubator) 

21 Fresh Thoughts Consulting, 2020. “ZPAP Innovation Dimension: Stakeholder Platform. Background document. Final report”. 

The report lists stakeholder platforms at DG ENV which can provide lessons learned for the set-up of new platforms: 
Business@Biodiversity (‘B@B’) Platform, European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, and EIP. 

22 “Mapping of existing relevant initiatives for the CATH 1 project”, shared by DG ENV. The list includes: Battery Alliance, 
Clean Hydrogen Alliance, Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, EIP, the Dutch Green Deal, Danish Clean Air Vision, 
Accelerate Estonia Initiative, Resource Efficiency Agency of Nordrhein Westfalen, Mining Finland, Industrial Emissions 
Innovation Observatory. 

19 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

o 

Involvement  of  participants  (e.g.  membership,  conference,  forum,  regular 
meetings, networking) 

o  Temporal scope (i.e. limited or unlimited)  

An overview of all platforms and the key information is provided directly in this paragraph 
in  table  2-7.  For  a  comprehensive  mapping  of  all  the  latter  parameters  please  consult 
appendix 2.  

  Step 3 - Based on the mapping conducted in Step 2, we will examine different setup options 
used in the reviewed platforms and collect lessons-learned. For step 3, we will use desktop 
research  and  direct  contacts  with  platform  representatives  if  found  suitable.  From  this 
analysis, we will derive recommendations for the EU Clean Air Tech Hub on how to organise 
the platform and project groups.  

Table 2.7 Initial list of similar platforms for background analysis 

Platform 

Level  Short description (preliminary) 

Lessons learned  

European Battery 
Alliance 

EU  

European Clean 
Hydrogen Alliance 

EU 

European Circular 
Economy Stakeholder 
Platform 

EU 

Industrial Emissions 
Innovation 
Observatory 

EU 

EU-initiated  platform  providing  research 
and  innovation  support  to  advanced  (e.g. 
Lithium-ion)  and  disruptive  (e.g.  solid 
state)  technologies;  open  ecosystem  of 
more 
than  600  stakeholders,  priority 
actions  identified  in  a  series of workshops 
and  stakeholders  can  cooperate  on  these; 
business investment platform to accelerate 
transactions between investee and investor 
in the battery value chain. 

EU-initiated alliance open to all public and 
private actors with activities for renewable 
or  low-carbon  hydrogen;  will  establish  an 
investment agenda and support the scaling 
up  of  the  hydrogen  value  chain  across 
Europe; 
in 
six 
thematic working groups. 

roundtables  operate 

Broad  stakeholder  base 
from the start.  

Network format allows for 
participation 
lower 
constraint 

alliance 

Joining 
required 
commitment 
alliance's shared vision 

is 
written 
the 

to 

EU-initiated cooperation platform to deliver 
on key areas of the EU Action Plan on the 
Circular  Economy;  exchange  of  know-how 
and  best  practices  (knowledge  hub), 
financing 
toolbox, 
toolbox,  education 
referencing  of  networks  and  platforms; 
annual  conference;  platform  steered  by  a 
coordination group.  

Having  a  smaller  scale 
working  group  meeting 
regularly  and  working 
upon the agendas at hand 
secures  progress  and 
manifests 
loose 
commitments from larger 
conferences 

innovation  and  market 

EU-financed project to scan promising new 
technologies to abate industrial emissions; 
stimulate 
for 
emerging  techniques  (specifically  those  in 
final  stages  of  technique  development) by 
technique 
providing  a  platform 
developers 
substantiated 
to 
recognition for their techniques. 

obtain 

for 

Having an oversight body 
can be good. However, no 
to 
limited  stakeholder 
engagement as adopted 

Business@Biodiversity 
(B@B) Platform 

EU 

EU-initiated  forum  for  dialogue  and  policy 
interface  to  discuss  the  links  between 
business  and  biodiversity  at  EU  level;  3 
workstreams:  methods,  pioneering  and 
mainstreaming; 
pioneering 
facilitates  dialogue  and 
workstream: 

e.g. 

Involving 
industry 
organisations  ensure  a 
broad  representation  of 
stakeholder interests 

20 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Platform 

Level  Short description (preliminary) 

Lessons learned  

Fuel Cells and 
Hydrogen Joint 
Undertaking 

EU 

Circular Plastic 
Alliance 

EU 

Close the Glass Loop 

EU 

Zero Pollution 
Stakeholder Platform 

EU 

cooperation  between  pioneering  financial 
institutions  and businesses  to  gain deeper 
understanding  from  practice,  and  identify 
opportunities  and  solutions  to  scale  up 
biodiversity  considerations  in  corporate 
decision-making. 

research, 

EU-initiated  public  private  partnership 
supporting 
technological 
development  and  demonstration  (RTD) 
activities  in  fuel  cell  and  hydrogen  energy 
technologies, with the aim to accelerate the 
market introduction of these technologies; 
2 pillars: transport and energy; support for 
market  uptake  incl.  reducing  the  costs, 
producing educational tools and developing 
analytical  methods  and  test  procedures, 
and  overall  impact  and  dissemination  of 
results. 

representing 

EU initiated industrial alliance covering the 
full  plastics value chains  and includes 277 
organisations 
industry, 
academia and public authorities; 6 working 
thematic  coordination 
groups,  and  4 
teams;  1-2  steering  committee  meetings 
per  month;  focus  on  design,  collection  & 
sorting, 
recycled  content,  R&D  and 
investment and monitoring 

recycling; 

a  material 

Industry action platform to unite the glass 
collection  and  recycling  value  chain,  and 
establish 
stewardship 
programme that will result in more bottle-
involves  13  EU 
to-bottle 
glass 
associations, 
manufacturers, 
food  & 
beverage  producers,  extended  producer 
responsibility  schemes  and  municipalities; 
development  of  EU  and  national  action 
plans 

including 
processors, 

launched  by 

the  European 
Platform 
Commission  and  the  European  Committee 
of  the  Regions  to  help  implement  the  EU 
Action Plan: “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, 
Water  and  Soil”.  The  Zero  Pollution 
Stakeholder  Platform  will  help  deliver  on 
the  flagship  initiatives  and  actions  set  out 
in the Zero Pollution Action Plan by: 

 

from 
bringing  together  actors 
different  communities  and  areas 
of expertise to tackle inter-related 
challenges,  e.g.  strengthening  a 
joint  environment  and  health 
agenda; 

Having 
representation 
from authorities, industry 
and  research 
institutes 
from  the  beginning  (19 
stakeholders) 

Teaming up with other EU 
initiatives  e.g.  Horizon 
2020  to  meet  goals  and 
deliver funding 

allows 

Defining  clear  visions, 
codes of conduct from the 
start 
a 
contingent  registration  of 
members who  are willing 
to  commit 
latter 
ambitions 

the 

for 

An  action  plan  has  been 
developed, 
however, 
limited accountability and 
allocation of responsibility 
is outlined 

synergetic 
Coordinated 
effects  with  other  EU 
programmes 
and 
initiatives 

21 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Platform 

Level  Short description (preliminary) 

Lessons learned  

Dutch Green Deal 

NL 

Green Deal Circular 
Purchasing 

BE 

Danish Clean Air 
Vision 

DK 

 

 

zero 

achieve 

defining a common vision on how 
pollution 
to 
objectives;  
developing  and  sharing  good 
practices  on  cross-cutting  topics 
such as financing for zero pollution 
jobs,  boosting 
innovation  and 
sustainable 
and 
consumption, 
creating 
thematic  hubs  like  the  Clean  Air 
Tech Hub. 

production 

and 

and 
Networking 
conferences 
can  help 
facilitate  alliances  and 
cooperation  in  a  sector, 
subsequently 
fostering 
more innovation 

This  initiative  has  been 
in 
very  methodical 
analysing  which  levers  it 
has  available  to  achieve 
its  goals.  In  doing  so 
focusing its energy on the 
matters it can affect 

Public-private partnerships with the aim of 
developing  and  implementing  sustainable 
solutions  for  problems  in  society;  board 
with public authorities from different levels, 
industry and NGOs which approves specific 
“green 
topics; 
on 
government  responsible  for  facilitating, 
contacts  and 
creating 
administering, 
alliances,  addressing  legislation  aspects 
(incl. removing legal barriers) 

various 

deals” 

from 

Circular 

Initiative 
Flanders; 
learning/experimentation network during in 
a two-year project (2017-2019) where over 
100 organisations (e.g. business and local 
governments)  committed  to  set  up  two 
circular purchasing projects with the help of 
over  50  supporting  organisations;  buyers 
and  facilitators  met  four  times  a  year  for 
inspiration  sessions,  sharing 
learnings, 
tools  and  measuring  methods,  finding 
solutions  to  challenges,  discussing  needs 
for  new  legislation;  basic  training  was 
provided  to  organisations  that  needed 
capability initial buildings. 

for 

resources 

technology 

Initiative  from  the  Danish  Ministry  of 
Environment  and  Food;  involves  public 
authorities, Danish manufacturers of clean 
industry 
and 
air 
key 
organisations 
(academia  or  consumer 
NGOs do not participate); the government 
provides 
arranging 
coordination  and  meeting  arrangements, 
but  no  direct  funding  and  it  provides  a 
platform 
between 
authorities and industry, as well as help for 
promotion of Danish technology towards EU 
third  countries. 
Member  States  and 
Additionally  the  platform  has  allowed  for 
previously  scattered  industry  players  to 
generate a sense of community, in spite of 
the  heterogeneous  nature  and  different 
backgrounds  that  suppliers  of  Clean  Air 
Technologies have.  

coordination 

for 

across 

The 
has 
initiative 
facilitated  the  creation  of 
a  Clean  Air  Technology 
the 
identity 
participating  companies. 
Additionally, the efforts of 
the initiative have helped 
accomplish 
26% 
increase in exports of the 
related technologies.  

a 

22 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Platform 

Level  Short description (preliminary) 

Lessons learned  

Accelerate Estonia 
Vision 

EE 

Resource Efficiency of 
Nordrhein-Westfalen 

DE 
(local) 

Inter-platform Group 
of Circular Economy 

ES 

Fabriques 
prospectives 

FR 

on 

Government-backed  platform  partnering 
with  entrepreneurs  to  solve  wicked  global 
problems by converting them into economic 
opportunities; 
practical 
based 
experimentation  at  national  scale  with  9-
the 
month  projects  entailing  proving 
solution in a large-scale pilot, initiating the 
regulatory  changes  and/or  public  sector 
processes 
developing 
sustainable operating model in Estonia and 
a 
scaling  model 
internationally;  each  project  gets  direct 
access  to  relevant  Estonian  Government 
policy owners, a public sector champion for 
their  project,  an  expert  board  of  advisers 
from  the  Public,  Private  and  Academic 
sectors and up to €90,000 funding.  

needed 

growth 

high 

and 

Initiative  from  the  Effizienz-Agentur  NRW 
which  facilitates  exchange  of  knowledge 
and  best  practices  on  energy  efficiency  in 
products  and  processes  in  industry  via 
regional network; 8 regional offices and has 
to  date; 
carried  out  3000  projects 
consultation 
efficiency, 
financing  opportunities  and  events  and 
training courses for companies. 

resource 

on 

Group of 28 industry-led technological and 
innovation  platforms,  promoting 
the 
efficient  use  of  resources  through  public-
collaboration  and  R&D  and 
private 
involve  all  agents  of  the 
innovation; 
science-technology-company 
system; 
various  activities  aimed  at  promoting  the 
concept  of  circular  economy,  financing 
instruments for R&D and innovation in the 
circular  economy,  showing  success  stories 
and  facilitating  the  search  for  partners 
among  agents  from  different  sectors  and 
value chains. 

Nationally  financed  programs  in  which 
French  regions  can  participate  on  a 
voluntary basis, where they get support for 
ecological/industrial/resiliency 
their 
transition;  participation 
in  a  one-year 
project resulting into a roadmap and action 
plan,  involvement  of  local  stakeholders 
(local  governments,  NGOs, 
residents, 
companies). 

of 

Solid  awareness  of  the 
the 
competences 
individual 
participants. 
Letting  the  best  suited 
stakeholder  handle  the 
task 

An  independent  advisory 
institution can serve as a 
place to seek guidance for 
practitioners. 
Additionally,  it  has  been 
used to induce incentives 

national 
Aggregating 
platforms  allows  for  a 
uniform  voice  on 
the 
international 
stage  of 
circular economy 

Project 
based 
engagement  allows  for  a 
close  control  with  the 
allocation  of  funds,  and 
an alignment with project 
objectives 

Climate Leadership 
Coalition (CLC) 

FI 

Non-profit  climate  business  network  with 
13  theme  groups  where  members  can 
network,  create  ideas  and  new  initiatives, 
learn  and  get  peer  support,  participate  in 
events,  gain  knowledge  on  latest  climate 
research  and  international  methodologies, 

base 

Delegating  multiple  large 
member 
into 
thematical 
working 
groups allows for efficient 
resource 
contributions 
and  agile  developments 

23 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Platform 

Level  Short description (preliminary) 

Lessons learned  

participate  in  shaping  climate  policy.  Each 
theme  group  has  a  facilitator  (from  the 
CLC’s  organisation)  who 
leads  and 
coordinates the groups work. 

statements 

of 
proposals 

and 

German Energy 
Solutions Initiative 

DE 

Industrial Symbiosis 
platform 

IT 

Project-based 
collaboration  allows  for  a 
precise 
very 
understanding 
and 
control  of  how  financial 
support is distributed 

High  importance  of  well-
functions 
coordinated 
when 
to 
stakeholders 
integrate 
and 
across 
interests 

attempting 

sectors 

small 

(SMEs) 

offering 

from  Federal  Ministry 

Imitative 
for 
Economic  Affairs  and  Energy  which 
and  medium-sized 
supports 
enterprises 
energy 
solutions in the fields of renewable energy, 
energy efficiency, smart grids and storage 
technologies to enter new markets abroad 
with the aim to increasingly spread German 
energy  technologies  worldwide;  activities 
include  matchmaking  services  abroad, 
consultancy on export and project financing 
in  particularly  difficult  markets,  support  in 
the field of marketing, incl. participation at 
trade fairs abroad. 

Initiative  from  the  Italian  National  Agency 
for  New  Technologies,  Energy  and 
Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) 
which aims to create synergies and closing 
the  loop  between  supply  and  demand  for 
various  resources;  expert  structure  that 
identifies  possible  solutions  of  industrial 
symbiosis;  complex  information  structure 
which describes the territory, its structures, 
the  interlocutors  and  available  resources; 
network 
different 
interlocutors; each company can receive an 
individual reports containing information on 
potential matches of interest; development 
of  operating  manuals 
industrial 
symbiosis 

connects 

that 

for 

Green Energy 
Romania Innovative 
Biomass Cluster 

RO 

BioReg 

EU 

Green  Energy  Innovative  Biomass  Cluster 
has  been  founded  in  2011  with  the  aim 
to raise the interest towards the production 
and  utilization  of  the  solid  biomass,  the 
most important renewable energy source in 
Romania. The cluster ensures the frame to 
develop innovative solutions in the field of 
the  solid  biomass  by  putting  emphasis  on 
the  environmental,  social  and  economic 
benefits. 

BioReg  project  has  received  funding  from 
the  European  Union’s  Horizon  2020 
research and innovation programme under 
grant  agreement  n°  727958.  The  project 
runs from January 2017 to December 2019, 
it involves 8 partners 

Climate Action Fund 

IE 

Government run fund since 2018 – purely 
public 

Sector  specific  clusters 
are  stronger  if  there  is  a 
stakeholder 
broad 
the 
engagement 
initial 
in 
industry 
phases 

from 
the 

Organizational  setup  can 
allow  for  parallel  work 
and  learning  on  different 
levels. 
geographical 
Subsequently  enhancing 
aggregate  value  creation 
from the project 

Limited potential for self-
cooperation 
sustaining 
industry 
among 

24 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Platform 

Level  Short description (preliminary) 

Lessons learned  

Sustainable Energy 
Ireland 

IE 

FTP 

EU 

Waterborne 
technology platform 

EU 

EU Environmental 
Innovation 
Partnerships (EIPs) 

European Technology 
Platforms (ETPs) 

European Technology 
and Innovation 
Platforms (ETIPs) 

The  Climate  Action  Fund  (CAF)  was 
established  to  provide  assistance  and 
financial support to projects which will help 
Ireland  achieve  its  climate  and  energy 
targets 

participants  when  they 
are handled separately 

National  Irish  agency  incentivising  the 
uptake  and  transition  towards  cleaner 
technologies  in  households  across  the 
nation 

targeted 
Providing 
financial 
incentives 
makes  a  difference  for 
decision makers 

The  Forest-based  Sector  Technology 
Platform  (FTP)  is  a  European  Technology 
Platform  (ETP)  dedicated  to  the  forest-
based  sector.  It  is  the  meeting  place  for 
forest  owners  and  public 
industry, 
authorities, to discuss and build up a critical 
mass  of  knowledge  on  common  research 
and innovation needs for the sector, and to 
decide on the best ways to cooperate. 

Coordinating  across  the 
sector for the entire union 
allows for better access to 
the  Commission 
and 
other top tier bodies 

that 

Initiatives 
are 
industry lead generates a 
high 
of 
stakeholder engagement 

degree 

WATERBORNE  has  been  set  up  as  an 
industry-oriented  Technology  Platform  to 
establish a continuous dialogue between all 
as 
stakeholders, 
waterborne 
shipbuilders, 
societies, 
classification 
shipowners, 
equipment 
maritime 
manufacturers,  infrastructure  and  service 
providers, 
research 
institutes,  and  with  the  EU  Institutions, 
including Member States. 

universities 

such 

or 

Importance 
governance structures 

of 

led 

initiatives 
Industry 
garner 
greater 
stakeholder engagement 

EIPs  are  partnerships  that  bring  together 
relevant  parties  at  EU,  national  and 
regional  levels  to  streamline,  simplify  and 
better 
financial 
instruments  and 
initiatives.  Focus  on 
challenges  that  can  benefit  society  and 
modernise sectors and markets. 

coordinate 

existing 

ETP's were set up to chart the strategic R&D 
path  for  key  European  Industries.  They 
focus  on  strategic  fields  such  as  food, 
and 
chemicals 
biotechnology, 
nanotechnology.  They  bring 
together 
stakeholders  to  define  medium-  to  long-
term 
technological 
development objectives, they also lay down 
markers  to  achieve  these.  ETPs  were  part 
of  Horizon  2020  which  ran  from  2013  to 
2020. 

research 

and 

In  2016  6  European  Industrial  Initiatives 
were merged with 8 European Technology 
Platforms  to  form  9  ETIPs.  These  were 
established  as  industry-led  communities 
that  would  develop  and  implement  the 
Strategic  Energy  Technology  Plan  (SET 
Plan).  The  aim  to  foster  innovation,  bring 
new technologies to the market and provide 

Broad  stakeholder  bases 
are  crucial  to  have  to 
accurately 
the 
stakeholders  involved  in 
being 
the 
addressed 

challenges 

reflect 

25 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Platform 

Level  Short description (preliminary) 

Lessons learned  

consensus  based  strategic  advice  on  the 
SET Plan. 

Having selected and mapped the relevant platforms in the table above, the lessons learned allowed 
the formulation of the recommendations shown in the Figure overleaf. 

26 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 2.5 Recommendations based on analysis of similar platforms 

27 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Five  recommendations  were  derived  from  five  key  learnings.  These  were  organised  into  three 
categories. Firstly, initial setup of a successful platform. These recommendations will help drive the 
construction  of  a  strong  foundation  for  the  hub.  Secondly,  organisational  design.  These 
recommendations will ensure that the hub will continuously deliver and operate effectively. Finally, 
synergetic  effects  which  looks  to  ensure  operation  of  the  hub  is  as  effective  and  successful  as 
possible.  An  implementation  of  the  5  recommendations  is  argued  to  significantly  increase  the 
likelihood of a successful hub. Additionally, while not a direct learning from the analysis of similar 
platforms, it is important to note that a high degree of housekeeping and professionalism will also 
go  a  long  way  in  ensuring  the  Hub’s  effectiveness.  This  includes  clearly  allocating  areas  of 
responsibility and managing privacy rules, and storage of documents, etc.  Finally, it is crucial to 
emphasise  that  the  long-term  impact  is  expected  to  be  greater  given  a  more  agile  and  focused 
effort by the Hub’s steering committees, subsequently delivering upon the ambitions set out by DG 
ENV and the stakeholders on behalf of the Clean Air Tech Hub.  

28 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

3.  ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 

3.1  Objective and method 

The  assessment  aimed  to  identify  clean,  reliable,  and  cost-efficient  European-made  solid  fuel 
household heating solutions. These solutions include 1) solid fuel local space heaters that are used 
for  heating  individual  spaces,  although  they  are  sometimes  equipped  with  heat  exchangers  and 
connected  in  the  central  heating  systems;  and  2)  boilers  in  the  size  range  below  60  kW,  both 
appliance groups with integrated emission reduction solutions. These types of appliances are the 
ones used for household heating. Additionally, household heating solutions covers any end-of-pipe 
solutions or the like, subsequently looking at the heating solution in totality, not just the appliance 
in isolation. The frameworks that were used for the assessment of the example technologies are 
presented in the Figure below. A detailed description of the technologies is presented in chapter 
3.2.1. 

Figure 3.1 Framework of technology assessment 

The information  on technical capabilities,  environmental potential, and economic potential  of the 
example  technologies  were  gathered.  Subsequently,  the  technologies  were  screened  and  as  an 
outcome, classified as BAT, BAT case by case or BNAT, or none.  

  BAT: Best Available Technology.  
  BAT  case  by  case:  a  technology  which  may  contribute  to  achieving  the  BAT  associated 

performance levels in certain applications, but is not generally applicable.   

  BNAT: a technology whose technology readiness level23 is assessed to be experimentally 

proven, but not yet brought to the market. 

The  technologies presented here are  examples based  on desktop research  and consultation  with 
experts  and  industry,  but  the  listing  is  not  comprehensive.  The  authors  acknowledge  that  other 
potential  technologies  may  exist.  Classification  is  not  a  fixed  state,  but  rather  a  continuum. 
Technologies evolve over time and new technologies appear. 

There are some important aspects to consider when evaluating the environmental potential of solid 
fuel household heating solutions. These are discussed in the next three sections. 

3.1.1  Air emissions from solid fuel household heating solutions 

Particle emission from solid fuel combustion can be separated according to their chemical structure 
on three classes:  black carbon (or BC; sometimes elemental carbon (EC) or soot), organic material 

23 European commission.2020. Horizon 2020-Work Programme 2014-2015. 

29 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

and inorganic material. In high emitting appliances, organic material and BC are the most common, 
while the share of inorganic particles is small. When the combustion conditions in the combustion 
chamber improve the amount of organic material starts to decrease and if the conditions are further 
improved, also BC emissions decrease. This is due to the improved oxidation of the particles, which 
can be achieved with air staging. In such conditions, also gaseous emissions are reduced. Gaseous 
emissions  oxidise  easier than  particle  emissions,  although  different  gaseous  components  require 
different conditions for oxidation. For example, in boilers where the combustion conditions are well-
controlled, the particle emissions mostly consist of inorganic particles that are originated from the 
fuel. Air staging improves the combustion and reduces all emissions that are formed in incomplete 
combustion.  Advanced  air  staging  can  also  reduce  NOX  emissions,  at  least  in  boilers  where  the 
primary combustion is under-stoichiometric, and the residence time is sufficient. This means that 
when  the  emissions  are  decreased,  also  the  chemical  composition  usually  changes.  It  has  been 
shown  that  improvement  in  combustion  conditions  can  have  very  different  effects  on  different 
components (PM vs. PAH).  

Catalysts  that  are  used  in  solid  fuel  local  space  heaters  are  so-called  oxidation  catalysts.  They 
enhance the oxidation of the combustion emissions. Catalysts have a large effect on the gaseous 
emissions, such as CO, OGC, gaseous PAHs, but their effect on particle emissions, elemental carbon 
and organic material, is weak. However, the reduction of gaseous species can reduce the formation 
of  so-called  secondary  organic  aerosol  that  are  formed  in  the  atmosphere  and  other  particle 
emissions that are in gaseous phase in the hot flue gas but condense when the flue gas cools down.   

Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) reduce number of particles that are released to the air, but they 
have no effect on the combustion process. ESPs are designed to reduce only the particle emissions. 
The operation of ESPs is the most effective when the combustion process (and emission formation) 
is stable and the emissions formation is low or moderate. 

Soot, elemental  carbon  (EC) and black  carbon  (BC)  are  often used interchangeably in literature. 
Black carbon particles are short-lived climate pollutants and are detrimental to human health. Soot 
typically also includes other components that are attached to the carbon containing agglomerates, 
whereas EC and BC are defined by their analytical methods. EC, or elemental carbon, is analysed 
with  a  thermal-optical  method  from  a  particle  containing  filter.  BC,  or  black  carbon,  is  analysed 
optically and it reflects to those particles that absorb light. BC is often analysed with an instrument 
called  “aethalometer”.  Although  the  analytical  methods  for  EC  and  BC  are  different,  a  high 
correlation  between  the  EC  and  BC  contents  in  particle  samples  have  been  shown  (for  example 
Salako et al. Exploring the Variation between EC and BC in a Variety of Locations 2012, Aerosol and 
Air Quality Research, any several other papers). Other particle components are known to interfere 
both the EC and BC analyses.  

As analysis method, operation of the analyser, testing and sampling procedures of the combustion 
appliance all affect the BC emissions, it is acceptable in this context to select one term and use it 
as a synonym to other. Thus, BC (black carbon) is used through the report to represent the light 
absorbing particles that contain mainly carbon, and are sometimes called soot, BC or EC. 

Those who would like to read more about the subject are advised to read, for example, “Petzold et 
al. 2013. Recommendations for reporting “black carbon” measurements. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 
8365–8379”, and the definitions used in “Bond et al. 2013, Bounding the role of black carbon in the 
climate system: A scientific assessment, J. Geophys. Res-Atmos., 118, 5380–5552”. 

3.1.2  Adverse health effects from residential combustion 

Numerous studies have shown that exposure to air pollutants is a major risk for human health. Air 
pollution consists of particles and gases from several sources that have different physico-chemical 
properties. Major anthropogenic sources for ambient air pollution are traffic, power plants, industrial 
processes, and domestic combustion. Globally the use of solid fuels produces high levels of outdoor 

30 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

and  indoor  pollutants  leading  to  deteriorated  human  health  and  increased  number  of  premature 
deaths24.  

Emissions from solid fuel combustion have been shown to evoke a large variety of adverse health 
effects in numerous studies. In humans, wood smoke has been associated with an increased number 
of  cardiac  and  respiratory  hospital  admissions  and  has  been  classified  as  a  probable  carcinogen 
(group 2A) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Environmental sources such 
as  emissions  from  heating  with  biomass  fuels  are  a  major  factor  in  inducing  COPD  (chronic 
obstructive pulmonary disease), showing a strong association between cooking with biomass stoves 
and COPD among female never-smokers25. 

In more detail, woodsmoke in toxicological  studies has shown to have  a  large variety of  effects, 
including inflammation, cell toxicity, DNA-damage and oxidative stress. The measured effects have 
been  shown  to  vary  largely  depending  on  used  appliances,  technology,  fuel,  and  user  practice. 
Moreover,  the  evoked  impacts  are  dependent  on  the  particle  deposition  in  the  airways  and  its 
properties such as solubility, but also the dose  and  length of the exposure to  the smoke. These 
create a complex mixture of factors affecting the toxicity of emissions. 

Emissions from incomplete combustion form a very heterogenous group of different components, 
such  as  BC,  PAHs,  VOCs  and  other  organic  compounds.  Incomplete  combustion  conditions  have 
been  found  to  be  more  potent  inducers  of  programmed  cell  death  and  genotoxicity  in  mouse 
macrophages than the particles from more efficient combustion. The responses to the particles from 
smouldering combustion seemed to be linked to the high concentrations of PAHs and other organic 
compounds26.  

However, even though particulate emissions from efficient combustion processes are  significantly 
lower than in smouldering combustion, the emissions from efficient combustion processes in solid 
fuel local space heaters are not harmless. It has been e.g. shown that appliances equipped with air 
staging  (modern  technology)  produce  particles  that  have  smaller  diameters,  but  also  more  ash 
related constituents27. It has been shown that the responses from efficient combustion correlated 
with the levels of transition metals that were found from the emitted particles28. Moreover, different 
diameters  of  emission  particles  may  also  change  their  place  of  deposition  in  the  airways  and 
pulmonary system, and thereafter change the evoked toxic response. 

Certain emission components are also affected by used fuel. From a health perspective, the most 
important  fuel  related  emissions  are  heavy  metals,  SO2  and  alkali  metals.  In  one  of  the  latest 
publications  available  on  this  topic,  patterns  of  induced  toxicological  responses  were  studied  by 
exposing both cells and mice to the smoke from combusting pine or spruce logs in highly controlled 
conditions29. It was found that the Nrf2 pathway was more strongly activated in cell exposure studies 
than in mice  lungs at  both  the transciptome and  prototeome levels, indicating differences  in  the 
oxidative stress pathways between the used experimental setups. The in vino and in vitro studies 
support the findings of the epidemiological studies and highlight the most likely pathways of the 
health effects caused by the inhaled particulate matter. 

24 Cohen, A.J., et al. 2017. Estimates and 25-year trends of the global burden of disease attributable to ambient air pollution: 

an analysis of data from the global burden of diseases study 2015. Lancet, 389, 1907-1918. 

25 Eisner, M.D, et al. 2010. An Official American Thoracic Society Public Policy Statement: Novel Risk Factors and the Global 

Burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 182:693-718. 

26 Uski, O., et al. 2014. Different toxic mechanisms are activated by emission PM depending on combustion efficiency. 
Atmospheric Environment, 89, 623–632. 
27 Uski, O., et al. 2014. Different toxic mechanisms are activated by emission PM depending on combustion efficiency. 
Atmospheric Environment, 89, 623–632. 

28 Uski, O., et al. 2014. Different toxic mechanisms are activated by emission PM depending on combustion efficiency. 
Atmospheric Environment, 89, 623–632. 
29 Ihantola, T., et al. 2020. Influence of wood species on toxicology of log-wood stove combustion aerosols: a parallel animal 

and air-liquid interface cell exposure study on spruce and pine smoke. Particle and Fible Toxicology, 17:27. 

31 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

3.1.3  Challenges in emission data  

There are several challenges when comparing solid fuel household heating solutions emission data 
from different sources. There are even more concerns when emissions from laboratory experiments 
represent emissions into outdoor air.  This chapter  presents a short discussion on the challenges 
that  are  faced  in  emission  data  comparison.  The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  highlight  the 
differences that may occur when different technologies are being compared. In addition, the effect 
of certain technologies on the emissions may in real-life be either smaller or greater than what is 
captured in by the certain testing procedures.  

Laboratory tests vs real life emissions 

The  emission  data  for  solid  fuel  household  heating  solutions  (solid  fuel  local  space  heaters  and 
boilers)  considered  in  this  report  have  been  measured  either  in  the  laboratory  in  type-test-like 
conditions, in the laboratory in30￼. Conditions in the laboratory are stable, whereas real-life use of 
combustion appliances take place in several, and sometimes varying, conditions. These conditions 
affect measured emissions. 

Sampling time 

In batch combustion, such as in solid fuel local space heaters, the concentration of particles and 
other emission components vary greatly during the process sources31. For this reason, the chosen 
sampling  period  has  great  effect  on  the  emission  result  in  batch  combustion.  If  the  whole 
combustion period is not covered, the real-life representation of the results can be questioned. In 
continuous  combustion,  such  as  in  automated  boilers,  the  emission  rate  is  rather  stable32.  The 
sampling times for the type tests are partly defined in the type test standards. In other laboratory 
studies than type tests, the sampling times can be adapted for the purpose of the study. 

Comparability of the test methods of various types of appliances 

Concerning  gaseous  emissions  there  are  different  test  standards  for  locals  space  heaters  (EN 
13240), slow heat release appliances (EN 15250) and boilers (EN 303:5), which differ from each 
other in the time when the test is performed. For local space heaters (EN 13240) the emissions are 
measured after preheating period. For slow heat release appliances (EN 15250), the measurement 
of CO is started from the ignition without preheating. For OGC and NOx, the emission is determined 
from the same period as CO (EN 16510-1). In the cold start, CO and OGC typically peak, and the 
oxygen concentration is higher because the combustion is not yet ongoing. This raises the average 
oxygen  concentration,  which  is  later  used  in  the  normalizing  the  emissions  in  the  13%  O2. 
Consequently, the test methods are not equal for the different type of appliances since appliances 
are  in  the  different  states  of  combustion  during  the  test  period33.  In  Ecodesign  regulation,  the 
emission  limit  values  are  the  same  for  these  appliance  types.  The  Norwegian  testing  method 
(NS3058-1) considers different burn rates and the result of this test is a weighted average of the 
emissions from different burn rates. 

30 Rönnbäck, M., et al. 2016. Deliverable D7.1, Documentation and evaluation of field data demonstration. beReal project. 

31 Kortelainen et al. 2018. Time-resolved chemical composition of small-scale batch combustion emissions from various wood 

species. Fuel 233, 224-236. 

32 Czech, H., et al. 2017. Time-resolved analysis of primary volatile emissions and secondary aerosol formationpotential from 

a small-scale pellet boiler. Atmospheric Environment, 158, 236–245. 

33 Rönnbäck, M., et al. 2016. Deliverable D7.1, Documentation and evaluation of field data demonstration. beReal project. 

32 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Particle measurement methods 

In type testing, particle samples are typically collected on a hot filter (160 °C), without cutting off 
large particles (i.e. total dust, EN 16510-1). In Norwegian testing method (NS 3058-2), and often 
in research, the sample is diluted with clean air before it is collected on a filter. Dilution cools down 
the  sample,  prevents  water  condensation  and  enables  a  use  of  analysers  that  are  designed  for 
outdoor  measurements.  While  temperature  decreases,  some  gaseous  organic  vapours  condense 
and  form  particles  (they  typically  condense  on  existing  particles).  The  presence  of  organic 
compounds  is  the  most  important  factor  when  comparing  particle  emissions  determined  using 
heated filter method or diluted method. However, particle sampling method does not affect the gas 
emissions as sampling for gas analysis is always done in the hot flue gas. 

Ecodesign requirements came into force for solid fuel local space heaters in the beginning of 2022. 
There  are  three  possible  methods  for  particle  sampling.  These  methods  vary  significantly  in  the 
sampling techniques. This may further blur the comparison of the emission results. 

Particle emissions from type testing are presented as total dust, whereas emissions from academic 
studies and concentrations in outdoor air are typically presented as health and atmospheric relevant 
PM1, PM2.5, or PM10 (aerodynamic diameter smaller than 1 µm, 2.5 µm, or 10 µm). Diluted sampling 
increases the particle  mass compared  to the hot sampling, while the size  classification, which is 
needed for the collection of a certain size of particles, decreases the emission. Thus, the difference 
in hot gas total dust sampling and diluted PM1/PM2.5 sampling is not straight forward. 

State of standardisation 

The revision of the product standards under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is on-going. 
In addition, the Commission has proposed a common European method for particle measurement 
(EN-PME  validation  project),  which  is  currently  in  the  EU  decision-making  process.  On  the  other 
hand, Ecodesign regulation came into force in the beginning of 2022 for solid fuel local space heaters 
and the Commission will present a proposal for a revision before the 1 January 2024. By the time, 
CE-marking  and  DoP  will  not  cover  all  Ecodesign  requirements,  e.g.,  particle,  NOX  and  OGC 
emissions.  

In  the  near  future,  if  emission  reduction  technologies  become  more  common,  they  may  set 
additional requirements for the testing procedures. This could for example include development of 
internationally accepted and harmonized testing procedures for Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs)34. 

3.2  Technology groups 

To assess the state of the technology trends, the selection of example technologies was studied. 
The  selection,  and  the  information  presented  on  the  technologies,  are  based  on  literature, 
collaboration with experts as well as consultation of manufacturers and umbrella organisations.  

The  example  technologies  are  tested  systems  with  certain  operational  user  practices,  fuels, 
technical solutions in the combustion appliance and emission reduction devices. The technologies 
also cover the  applications,  which are  not yet available but  coming  to  the  market.  The solutions 
cover both local space heaters and boilers.  

To cover the whole heating system, both primary and secondary measures for emission reduction 
were included in  the assessment.  The primary measures affecting  the  emissions and  the overall 
system  efficiency  are  related  to  fuel,  air  staging  and  user  practices.  The  secondary  measures 
controlling the emissions are various emission reduction technologies. 

34 Obernberger et al. 2011. Survey on the present state of particle precipitation devices for residential biomass combustion 
with a nominal capacity of 50 kW in IEA Bioenergy Task32 member countries. Final version. Graz University of Technology. 

33 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

The  example  technologies  were  grouped  according  to  combustion  appliance  type  and  possible 
emission reduction solution type, or other technical feature. Boilers were also divided according to 
stoking (automatically (default) or manually stoked), and local space heater according to fuel (wood 
logs or pellets). This division has been used in following technology screening in chapter 3.3. 

  Boiler + advanced air staging (2 example technologies)35 
  Boiler + charger + additional (cyclone/condensing heat exchanger) (2)36 
  Boiler +cyclone (1)37  
  Boiler + ESP (5)38 39 40 
  Boiler (manually stoked) + ESP (1)41 
  Slow heat release appliance (wood logs) + air staging (1; several models)42 
 
 
 
 
 

LSH (wood logs) + automatic control (1)43  
LSH (wood logs) + catalyst + ESP (1)44 
LSH (wood logs) + catalyst (2)45 46 47 
LSH (pellets) + catalyst (1)48 
LSH (wood logs) + ESP (4)49 50 51 52 

35 Durand et al. 2014. EU-UltraLowDust. Information material and policy recommendations., D7.6: Final report.  

36 Suhonen et al. 2021. High temperature electrical charger to reduce particulate emissions from small biomass-fired 

boilers. Energies 2021, 14, 109  

37 Suhonen et al. 2021. High temperature electrical charger to reduce particulate emissions from small biomass-fired 

boilers. Energies 2021, 14, 109  

38 Grigonyte-Lopez Rodriguez et al. 2020. A novel electrical charging condensing heat exchanger for efficient particle emission 

reduction in small wood boilers. Renewable Energy, 145, 521-529. 

39 Carroll et al. 2017 Use of electrostatic precipitators in small-scale biomass furnaces to reduce particulate emissions from a 

range of feedstocks. Biosystems Engineering 163, 94-102 

40 Bologa et al. 2010. Particle emissions from small scale wood combustion devices and their control by electrostatic 

precipitation. Chemical Engineering Transactions, 22, 119-124. 

41 Hartmann et al. 2010. Electrostatic precipitators for small scale wood furnaces. Landtechnik 65(5):342-5 

42 Nuutinen et al. 2014. Effect of air staging on fine particle, dust and gaseous emissions from masonry heaters. Biomass and 

Bioenergy 67, 167-178. 

43 Durand et al. 2014. EU-UltraLowDust. Information material and policy recommendations., D7.6: Final report.  

44 König et al. 2021. Effects of single and combined retrofit devices on the performance of wood stoves. Renewable Energy 

171, 75-84 

45 Reichert et al. 2018. Impact of oxidizing honeycomb catalysts integrates in firewood stoves on emission under real-life 

operating conditions. Fuel Processing Technology 177, 109-118 

46 Reichert et al. 2018. Catalytic efficiency of oxidizing honeycomb catalysts integrated in firewood stoves evaluated by a 

novel measuring methodology under real-life operating conditions. Renewable Energy 117, 300-313. 

47 König et al. 2021. Effects of single and combined retrofit devices on the performance of wood stoves. Renewable Energy 

171, 75-84 

48 Ryšavỳ et al. 2019. Comparison of catalysts in the point of view of pellet stove flue gas purification. International Journal of 

Energy Production and Management, 2, 124–133. 

49 Obernberger et al. 2011. Survey on the present state of particle precipitation devices for residential biomass combustion 

with a nominal capacity of 50 kW in IEA Bioenergy Task32 member countries. Final version. Graz University of Technology. 

50 Brunner et al. 2017. 2-Year field operation monitoring of electrostatic precipitators for residential wood heating systems. 

Biomass and Bioenergy 111, 278-287 

51 Bologa et al. 2010. Particle emissions from small scale wood combustion devices and their control by electrostatic 

precipitation. Chemical Engineering Transactions, 22, 119-124. 

52 König et al. 2021. Effects of single and combined retrofit devices on the performance of wood stoves. Renewable Energy 

171, 75-84 

34 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

 
 
 

LSH (wood logs) + PCM heat exchanger (1)53 
LSH (wood logs) + heat exchanger + ESP (1)54  
Pellet stoves (wood pellet) (3)55 56 57 

3.2.1  Combustion appliance types 

Local space heaters 

Local space heaters are typically self-standing light weight combustion appliances made typically of 
cast iron and equipped with a door with glass window. In modern appliances combustion air feed is 
divided in primary and secondary air. Local space heaters are intended for local room heating and 
are typically used for secondary heat supply. The fuels used in the local space heaters studied here 
are  wood  logs  or  wood  pellets.  Wood  pellets  in  pellet  stoves  can  be  combusted  continuously, 
compared to manual batch combustion with log wood. Pellet stoves are equipped with automated 
combustion control that can include automated fuel feed, fans for combustion air and/or flue gas, 
or  sensor  in  the  flue  gas  to  control  the  combustion  conditions.  Under  the  Construction  Products 
Regulation  (CPR),  local  space  heaters  are  type  tested  currently  according  to  EN 13240  and  EN 
14785. Local space heaters and pellet stoves may be integrated or retrofitted with heat exchanger 
from  which  heat  is  directed  to  the  central  heating.  Pellet  stoves,  and  other  type  of  local  space 
heaters, with an integrated water jacket can be called “hydro stoves”. 

Slow heat release appliance 

Slow heat release appliances are typically massive combustion appliances, where the relatively long 
flue ways are surrounded by large mass of ceramic material, brick or soapstone. The heat created 
in combustion is reserved in the mass and released slowly into the room by radiation during the 
long period of time after the fire has died. Slow heat release appliances are more common in Nordic 
countries  and  they  are  typically  used  for  secondary  heat  supply.  The  fuel  used  in  the  slow  heat 
release  appliances  studied  here  is  wood  logs.  Under  CPR,  slow  heat  release  appliances  are  type 
tested currently according to EN 15250. 

Boiler 

Boilers  are  used  in  central  heating  and  for  providing  hot  water.  They  require  heat  distribution 
system, e.g. radiators or underfloor heating. The heating power of the boilers in the systems studied 
here range from 15 to 60 kW. The fuel used in the boilers studied here is pellets, wood chips and 
wood logs. The boilers are tested according to EN 303-5 (up to 500 kW). Pellets, wood chip and 
wood logs are used as a solid fuel in boilers. Modern boilers are equipped with automated control, 
which includes automated fuel feed and combustion air input. The operation is often controlled with 

53 Obernberger et al. 2017. Improved low emission and high efficiency wood stove with integrated PCM heat exchanger. 

Project ERA-NET Bioenergy “Stove 2020”. Presentation in Workshop: ”Wood Stoves 2020 – Towards high efficiency and low 
emissions”. Stockholm, 13th of June 2017. 
https://www.tfz.bayern.de/mam/cms08/en/dateien/vortrag_obernberger_improved_high_efficiency_low_emission_stove_co
ncept_including_an_pcm_heat_exchanger_2017.pdf, cited 18.6.2021. 

54 König et al. 2021. Effects of single and combined retrofit devices on the performance of wood stoves. Renewable Energy 

171, 75-84 

55 Schmidl et al. 2011. Particulate and gaseous emissions from manually and automatically fired small scale combustion 

systems. Atmospheric Environment, 45, 7443-7454. 

56 Orasche et al. 2012. Comparison of Emissions from Wood Combustion. Part 1: Emission Factors and Characteristics from 
Different Small-Scale Residential Heating Appliances Considering Particulate Matter and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon 
(PAH)-Related Toxicological Potential of Particle-Bound Organic Species. Energy & Fuels, 26, 6695-6704. 

57 Sippula et al. 2007. Effect of Wood Fuel on the Emissions from a Top-Feed Pellet Stove. Energy & Fuels, 21, 1151-1160. 

35 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

a lambda probe. Both gaseous and particle emission are typically lower in modern solid fuel boilers, 
compared to modern solid fuel local space heaters. Lower emissions in boilers are achieved with 
the continuous combustion together with automated control and the development of boilers has led 
to significant deduction of emissions over the last decades. There are also combined heat and power 
(CHP) systems in the size range of 80 kW (heat) utilizing biomass gasification58. Smaller gasification 
combustion units have been developed and they can produce very low emissions59. Their share in 
the market is very small. 

3.2.2  Electrostatic precipitator technology  

Electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is an emission reduction technology that is designed for removing 
particulate matter from the flue gas. An ESP consists of a high-voltage charger, which creates ions 
that charge particles in the flue gas. Charged particles are collected on a grounded plate, which can 
be  the  chimney  wall  in  small  ESPs.  ESPs  are  commonly  used  in  large  boilers  plants,  and  their 
application in household appliances is not as common. 

Often the cleaning of the ESPs is done automatically using pressurized air, water or mechanically. 
In addition, the collected particles are removed either by the user or by the chimney sweeper on 
his/her visits, optimally 1-2 times per year.  

ESPs for solid fuel LSHs can be divided into three classes: integrated ESP, attached ESP, and 
chimney-top ESP. For example, a boiler-integrated ESP can utilize both the mechanical separation 
of larger particles within the boiler in specially designed exhaust channels, and electrostatic 
precipitation of fine particles directly before the flue pipe. Two other constructions can be retrofit 
to existing local space heaters or boilers still in use, to clean the flue gas either directly after the 
boiler or at the chimney, depending on local room availability and roof construction. 

The  reduction  efficiency  of  the  ESP  can  be  up  to  90%  in  optimal  conditions60,  where  particle 
concentration  stays  relatively  constant,  and  the  concentration  is  low  or  moderate.  However,  the 
main need for particle emission reduction is in the high polluting combustion appliances. Field study 
has shown that, depending on the emission sources, the reduction efficiency for PM1 varied between 
44 and 98%61. It is important to note here that, while ESPs are effective at dealing with PM, they 
do not remove gaseous compounds. 

Most of the ESPs investigated in this project are designed for cleaning flue gases from biomass-
fired boilers, and the ESPs designed for the operation with coal burning boiler are not frequently 
met in the literature. For multifuel LSH fuelled with coal, the measured reduction efficiency was up 
to 90%62. The operation of ESPs is strongly dependent on the type of boiler or LSH and the type of 
fuel used. Therefore, the main target of the ESP technology screening is to find solutions with the 
collection efficiencies close to those in BAT applications.  

ESPs for solid fuel local space heater cost 1000-2000 €, while installation costs are from 300 € up 
to  2000  €,  depending  on  the  location.  ESPs  need  power  connection,  and  a  typical  power 
consumption  is  below  50  W.  Maintenance  is  done  by  the  chimney  sweeper  on  regular  visits. 
Designed lifetime for ESPs are 20 years, but the technology has not yet been in use in local space 

58 Spanner Re2, HKA35. Proven wood gasification technology - HKA 35/45/49 (holz-kraft.com). 

59 Nuutinen, I., et al. 2010. Fine particle emission of a novel type of gasification combustion pellet burner. European Biomass 

Conference and Exhibition, 2010. 

60 Carroll et al. 2017 Use of electrostatic precipitators in small-scale biomass furnaces to reduce particulate emissions from a 

range of feedstocks. Biosystems Engineering 163, 94-102. 

61 Brunner et al. 2017. 2-Year field operation monitoring of electrostatic precipitators for residential wood heating systems. 

Biomass and Bioenergy 111, 278-287. 

62 Applied Research Services Limited. 2014. Testing of the OekoTube electrostatic precipitator on coal emissions. Report 

14/2660. 

36 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

heaters  long  enough  to  practically  confirm  the  predicted  lifetime.  This  also  results  in  questions 
regarding the extent to which ESPs are effective in different practical applications of the technology. 
From the examples, most of the ESP systems have been developed in Central and Northern Europe. 

There is currently no test standard for ESPs. However, there are existing Blue Angel eco-label63 for 

log wood stoves (DE-UZ 212) and the new Blue Angel eco-label for precipitators (DE-UZ 222, for 
retrofitting),  which  are  existing  standards  assessing  the  performance  of  appliances  with  ESPs  or 
stand-alone retrofitting solutions. 

3.2.3  Air staging in local space heaters and boilers 

Air  staging  refers  to  design  in  combustion  air  input  in  the  combustion  chamber,  where  the 
combustion air is inserted to the combustion chamber in several separated regions. Combustion air 
input is typically divided into primary and secondary air, and possible also tertiary air. In local space 
heaters,  window  purge  air,  which  primary  purpose  is  to  keep  the  window  clean,  can  also  act  as 
secondary  air.  In  systems  where  air  staging  is  not  applied,  combustion  air  is  inserted  to  the 
combustion chamber through the grate, or if grate is not applied, freely to the fuel. Air-staging is a 
well-established technology in boilers. In large combustion units, and high-grade household heating 
solutions, primary and secondary combustion zones are separated. Air tightness is required from 
the appliance in which air staging is used to ensure that combustion air is fed as designed.  

In short, the purpose of primary air is to pyrolyze the fuel. The amount of primary air is reduced 
compared to systems without air staging, to prevent too fast pyrolysis of the fuel. Secondary air, 
on the other hand is inserted to the upper flame or to the secondary combustion zone, where it 
improves mixing and brings additional oxygen to the combustion, oxidizing compounds formed in 
incomplete  combustion.  Sometimes  pyrolysis  gases  are  not  ignited  until  secondary  air  brings 
additional  oxygen  to  the  combustion.    Air  staging  helps  to  reduce  all  emission  from  incomplete 
combustion, and it may also reduce NOX emission in certain cases, especially in advanced boilers. 
Secondary air is often preheated by leading it to the firebox through the hot structures. Air staging 
reduces emissions in local space heaters by preventing too fast gasification of the fuel and improves 
oxidation of the compounds formed in incomplete combustion. 

In  flue  gas  recirculation,  part  of  the  flue  gas  is  recirculated  to  the  primary  combustion  zone  to 
control temperatures and prevent excess pyrolysis of the fuel. Flue gas recirculation can improve 
reduction  of  NOX  to  N,  by  reducing  oxygen  content  in  the  primary  combustion  zone.  Lower 
temperatures also reduce the possible problems caused in boilers by ash fusibility, when fuels with 
high ash content are used. Ash content in commercial pellets is typically low. If high ash content 
pellets become common in household boilers, flue gas recirculation would improve the operation of 
the boiler and reduce emissions.   

Air staging has been a standard in boilers for decades, where combustion air is controlled with a 
control unit, which also regulates the fuel input. Most of the local space heaters are also nowadays 
equipped  with  separate  input  for  primary  and  secondary  combustion  air.  Unlike  in  boilers, 
combustion  air  in  local  space  heaters  is  controlled  by  the  chimney  draught.  There  is  typically  a 
manual control for primary and secondary air that the user operates after the ignition and before 
the char burnout.  

Introducing air-staging has been shown to reduce emissions. Applying secondary air to a solid fuel 
local space heater cut the emissions by 60% (CO), 83% (OGC) and 25% (TSP). Similarly, in slow 
heat release appliances, introducing air staging decreased methane (74%–91%), CO (26%–81%) 

63 Umweltfreundliche Staubabscheider für Scheitholz-Einzelraumfeuerungen (neu) (DE-UZ 222). https://www.blauer-

engel.de/de/produktwelt/staubabscheider-fuer-scheitholz-einzelraumfeuerungen-neu. 

37 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

and PM1 (14%–58%) emissions, whereas there was not reduction in BC emissions64. In boilers, the 
improvements can be targeted at further optimization of the air staging, stated here as ”advanced 
air staging”. In addition to the above-mentioned compounds, advanced air-staging can also be used 
for reducing NOX and particulate ash emissions65,66.  

Lifetime  of  a  boiler  or  local  space  heater  equipped  with  air  staging  is  approximately  20  years, 
similarly to a system without it. Price for the slow heat release appliance is assumed to be 5,000 €, 
for the local space heater 2,700 € and for the boiler 6,000 €67. For boilers with advanced air-staging, 
the price range 8,900-19,000 € from 2014 has been used68. Installation and maintenance costs of 
a combustion appliance equipped with air staging is the same as for an appliance without air staging. 

3.2.4  Catalytic converters in local space heaters 

The  purpose  of  the  catalytic  converters  is  to  improve  the  burnout  and  oxidation  of  the  unburnt 
compounds formed in the combustion process. Many catalytic converters for solid fuel local space 
heaters and boilers are more or less based on catalytic converters for cars. In contrary to gasoline 
vehicles where 3-way catalysts are used, only oxidation catalysts are used in local space heaters. 
Different types of catalytic converters include monoliths (honeycomb or foam structure) or net and 
wire mesh, of ceramic or metallic material, for example. The surface of the converter is coated with 
the  active  material.  Typical  active  materials  are  platinum,  palladium  and  rhodium.  Catalytic 
converter can be placed in the combustion appliance (integrated) or in the chimney as retrofit. 69￼. 

Catalysts create a pressure drop, which need to  be considered  in the  design of the  system.  The 
main concern related to the use of catalysts is the tendency of deposit build up in the catalysts. 
Deposits can lead to increased pressure drop, which can eventually lead to increased emissions or 
maloperation  of  the  combustion  appliance.  Alkali  metals  deposits  may  deactivate  the  catalyst￼.  
The user, or automatic or manual pressure sensitive mechanism, needs to observe the appliance 
operation for the danger  of clogging during normal use and catalysts need regular cleaning  with 
water and/or pressurized air, several times per year. Catalysts also need to be changed periodically, 
depending on the usage. The estimated lifetime of the catalyst is shorter than the local space heater 
in which it is installed, less than 5 years, depending on operational hours.  

Catalysts  reduce  CO  and  OGC  emission,  but  their  reduction  efficiency  for  particulates  is  low  or 
moderate  (about  30%).  Their  reduction  efficiency  for  secondary  organic  aerosol  (SOA)  can  be 
better,  since  the  SOA  precursors  are  in  gas  phase  in  the  hot  flue  gas.  For  example,  reduction 
efficiencies of 70-95% for CO, and 30-60% for OGC has been shown.  It is known that reduction 
efficiency for methane is poor, thus lowering the OGC reduction efficiency 70,71. Price of the catalyst 

64 Nuutinen, K., et al. 2014. Effect of air staging on fine particles, dust and gaseous emissions from masonry heaters. Biomass 

and Bioenergy, 67, 167–178. 

65 Obernberger, I., et al. 2012. Future low emission biomass combustion systems. ERA-NET Bioenergy Project “FutureBioTec”. 

Final Report. 

66 Lamberg, H., et al. 2011. Effects of Air Staging and Load on Fine-Particle and Gaseous Emissions from a Small-Scale Pellet 

Boiler. Energy & Fuels, 25, 4952–4960. 

67G. Janssens, K. Custers, D.Huybrechts. Best Available Techniques (BAT) for Domestic Wood Heating, VITO. May 2020. 

68 Durand et al. 2014. EU-UltraLowDust. Information material and policy recommendations., D7.6: Final report.   

69 Brunner, T., Mandl, C., Obernberger, I., 2017. Selection and integration of high temperature catalysts into a stove. “Wood 

Stoves 2020 – towards high efficiency and low emissions”. Project ERA-NET Bioenergy “Stove2020”. 

70 Brunner, T., Mandl, C., Obernberger, I., 2017. Selection and integration of high temperature catalysts into a stove. “Wood 

Stoves 2020 – towards high efficiency and low emissions”. Project ERA-NET Bioenergy “Stove2020”. 

71Reichert et al. 2018. Catalytic efficiency of oxidizing honeycomb catalysts integrated in firewood stoves evaluated by a 

novel measuring methodology under real-life operating conditions. Renewable Energy 117, 300-313.  

38 

 
 
  
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

is  from  60  to  1000  €.  There  is  currently  no  information  about  the  maintenance  and  installation 
costs. 

3.2.5  Prototype systems: Cyclones, condensing heat exchangers, phase change material heat 

exchanger 

Cyclones  are  commonly  used  in  industrial  applications  and  in  industrial  combustion  units  for 
removing large particles. Particle removal in cyclones is based on centrifugal acceleration inside the 
cyclone and particles larger than the cut-off diameter are being collected. Cyclones are typically not 
well-suited for a removal of small particles and the collection efficiency is poor72. If particle removal 
for small particles is desired, the pressure-drop over the cyclone increases. Thus, they are not well-
suited for solid fuel local space heaters. Cyclones are used, for example in large combustion units 
before ESPs. Prototype systems where cyclone has been used in combination with a charger has 
been investigated by Suhonen et al73.  

A heat exchanger transfers heat between two or more fluids. Typically, in household appliances, 
only  boilers  are  equipped  with  dedicated  heat  exchanger,  where  the  heat  from  the  flue  gas  is 
transferred to a liquid. In local space heaters, heat transfer takes place as convection or radiation, 
although there are local space heaters on the market that are equipped with a heat exchanger.    

Condensing heat exchanger is a special type of heat exchanger, where the water vapor of the flue 
gas  condenses  on  the  heat  exchanger  surface.  Condensing  heat  exchangers  have  two  main 
advantages in comparison to the non-condensing heat exchangers: 1) due to the condensation of 
water, latent heat can be recovered, which improves efficiency (e.g. 5–10%74), and 2) condensing 
heat exchanger can be optimized for particle reduction75. Reduction efficiency for fine particles is 
relatively low in condensing heat exchanger and moist fuel, such as wood chips, are preferred for 
the  most  efficient  reduction76.  Condensed  water  also  helps  to  keep  the  heat  exchanger  surfaces 
clean. Some condensing biomass boilers exist on the market. These boilers are optimized for heat 
recovery, but not for the particle reduction. 

Other types of heat exchangers that have been tested as prototypes include phase change material 
(PCM)  heat  exchanger  in  combination  with  a  wood-fuelled  local  space  heater77.  Similarly,  to 
condensing heat exchanger, latent heat can be stored in phase change material heat exchanger, 
which  increases  the  thermal  efficiency  of  the  system.  If  the  emission  reduction  solution  causes 
pressure drop leading to low chimney draught, combustion air supply may not be sufficient. Heat 
exchanger has been found to increase particle emissions if this is not taken care of78 

The systems presented here are prototypes and were left out of the BAT screening. To the authors’ 
knowledge,  there  is  no  long-term  use  data  available,  information  on  user  maintenance  required 
during everyday use, nor purchase or maintenance costs available. Micro-CHP (combined heat and 
power) systems are commercially available. These systems are capable of producing both heat and 

72 Kubica, et al. 2007. Small combustion installations: techniques, emission and measures for emission reduction. JRC 

Scientific and Technical Reports. 

73 Suhonen et al. 2021. High temperature electrical charger to reduce particulate emissions from small biomass-fired boilers. 

Energies 2021, 14, 109. 

74 Grigonyte, J., et al. 2014. Evaluation of a Heat Exchanger Designed for Efficient Fine Particle Precipitation in Small-Scale 

Wood Combustion. Energy & Fuels, 28, 6058–6065. 

75 Gröhn, A., et al. 2009. Reduction of fine particle emissions with optimized condensing heat exchangers. Environmental 

Science and Technology, 43, 6269–6274. 

76 Suhonen et al. 2021. High temperature electrical charger to reduce particulate emissions from small biomass-fired boilers. 

Energies 2021, 14, 109. 

77 Obernberger, I., et al. 2017. Improved low emission and high efficiency wood stove with integrated PCM heat exchanger. 

Wood Stoves 2020 – Towards high efficiency and low emissions. ERA-NET Bioenergy ”Stove 2020”. 

78 König et al. 2021. Effects of single and combined retrofit devices on the performance of wood stoves. Renewable Energy 

171, 75-84. 

39 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

electricity. Although these systems are commercially available and not in prototype phase, there 
seem  to  be  a  lack  of  information  in  regard  the  emissions  that  they  produce.  It  is  also  unclear, 
whether there is a wide-scale potential in their applicability in households.  

3.2.6  Automated control systems for local space heaters 

The  primary  purpose  of the  automated control  systems in  wood-fuelled local space  heaters  is to 
reduce user errors and help the user by reducing the need to change the LSH settings during the 
combustion. Automated control systems also improve efficiency, and some systems help the user 
to keep the optimal room temperature. Automated control systems reduce combustion emissions, 
as they generally help to provide the correct amount of combustion air in the  different phases of 
the combustion  process, even  when  a  sudden change  in  combustion conditions occur.  Especially 
less-trained users benefit from automated control systems, but with optimal design, they improve 
efficiency and reduce emissions despite the user experience.  However, the effect of an automated 
control system on emissions may be minor in well-defined test conditions. Automated combustion 
systems  are  widely  used  in  boilers  and  pellet  stoves  but  are  only  now  getting  more  common  in 
wood-fuelled local space heaters.  

Generally, the automated control systems include a sensor, a control unit and device to regulate 
the combustion air flow. Ideally, the control system regulates primary and secondary air separately. 
Sensors are typically thermocouples, lambda sensors (O2), pressure sensors (draught), CO and/or 
OGC,  and,  for  example,  sensor  for  door  position  (open/closed).  A  combination  of  two  or  more 
sensors  may  sometimes  be  used.  Sensor  signals  are  read  with  a  microprocessor,  which  then 
typically  regulates  the  amount  of  combustion  air  by  opening  or  closing  a  flap  placed  in  the 
combustion air inlet or controlling fans that feed combustion air to the LSH. The simpler versions of 
the control units are typically thermo-mechanical in which temperature changes affect a combustion 
air regulation without a microprocessor. 

Some of the automated control units are installed into local space heaters already in a factory, while 
others  can  be  retrofitted  to  a  variety  of  different  models.  The  combustion  air  unit  in  retrofitted 
systems can generally only be installed into the air inlet socket, while it can be made a fixed part 
of the local space heater if it is installed already in the factory. Automated control systems require 
electricity connection.   

Systems that are installed in the factory are designed and tuned to be operated with the appliance 
in question. Retrofitted systems need to be adjusted for the specific type and the conditions in which 
it will be used. Thus, retrofitted systems pose a threat that the control will not work as planned and 
will  reduce  the  efficiency  and/or  increase  combustion  emissions.  It  has  been  recommended  that 
retrofitting an automated control system to an existing wood-fuelled local space heater should only 
be done by a trained expert to ensure the correct operation.79  

In  this  study,  example  technologies  include  only  one  automated  control  system  for  local  space 
heaters.  

3.2.7  Screening criteria results of technology groups 

Table 3.1 sums up the characteristics of the example technologies, which have been screened for 
the  selection  of  BAT  and  BNAT.  The  characteristics  cover  their  technological  capabilities, 
environmental potential (with the emphasis on emission data) and economic potential.  

79 Guidelines for automated control systems for stoves. Report within the scope of the ERA-NET Bioenergy Project 

“Woodstoves2020” – Development of Next Generation and Clean Wood Stoves. 2017. 

40 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 3.1 Information on technology groups.  

Technical capabilities 

Environmental potential 

Economic potential 

Group 

y
t
e
f
a
S

d
e
t
c
i
d
e
r
P

)
y
(

e
m

i
t
e
f
i
l

Boiler + advanced 
air staging 

Safe 

20 

l

a
r
e
n
e
G

f
o

y
t
i
l
i

b
a
c
i
l

p
p
a

n
o
i
s
s
i
m
e

n
o
i
t
c
u
d
e
r

r
o
f

e
r
u
s
a
e
m

d
n
a

h
c
t
a
b

,
e
s
c
u
n
o
a
u
n
n
e
i
t
t
n
n
o
a
c
M

i

n
y
o
c
i
t
n
s
e
u
u
b
q
m
e
r
o
f
c

Air staging: 
both  

Normal
a 

t
r
o
f
f
e

d
e
d
e
e
n

l
c
/
e
c
n
a
n
e
t
n
a
M
Normala 

,
g
n
n
a
e

i

i

n/a  

n/a 

Boiler + charger + 
additional 
(cyclone/ 
condensing heat 
exchanger) 

Boiler + cyclone 

Safe 

20 

Charger: both, 
cyclone and 
condensing 
heat 
exchanger: 
continuous 
Cyclone: 
continuous 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Boiler + ESP 

Safe 

20 

ESP: both 

Boiler (manually 
stoked) + ESP 
Slow heat release 
appliance (wood 
logs) + air staging 
LSH (wood logs) + 
automatic control 
LSH (wood logs) + 
catalyst + ESP 

Safe 

20 

ESP: both 

Safe 

20 

Air staging: 
both 

Safe 

20 

Safe 

CAT 
<5?d 

Automatic 
control: bothb 
Catalyst+ ESP: 
case by case 

Normal
a 
Normal
a 
Normal
a 

Normal
a 
Severa
l times 
per 
yeare 

Normala 

Normala 

Normala 

Normala 

Catalysts 
replaced/cleane
d by user 

l

y
g
o
o
n
h
c
e
T

l

e
v
e

l

i

s
s
e
n
d
a
e
r

9, in 
market 

4, 
validate
d in a 
lab, 
prototyp
e 
4, 
validate
d in a 
lab, 
prototyp
e 
9, in 
market 
9, in 
market 
9, in 
market 

9, in 
market 
4, 
validate
d in a 
lab, 
prototyp
e 

t
s
u
d

l

a
t
o
T

)
3

m
/
g
m

(

)
3

m
/
g
m

(
C
G
O

)
3

m
/
g
m

(
O
C

)
3

m
/
g
m

(

x

O
N

e
t
s
a
W

)
r
e
h
t
o
/
h
s
a
(

<10 

<10 

20 

100-
150 

ash 

20-
40 

n/a 

>150
0 

n/a 

ash, 
other 

t
s
o
c

e
s
a
h
c
r
u
P

)
€
(

9000
-
1900
0 
n/a, 
proto 

l

a
n
o
i
t
a
r
e
p
O

r
a
e
y
/
)
€
(

s
t
s
o
c

n
o
i
t
a

l
l

a
t
s
n
I

)
€
(

t
s
o
c

≤100  2000

-
2500 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

40-
60 

n/a 

>150
0 

n/a 

ash 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

<10 

<20 

60 

150 

ash 

7500  

n/a 

10 

<20 

180 

200 

ash 

7500  

n/a 

20-
70 

120-
140 

1000-
2000 

150 

ash 

5000  ≤100 

300-
2000 
300-
2000 
650 

 10-
30 
15-
100 

30-
45 
n/a 

800 

150 

ash 

3500  

15 

500 

800-
1800 

n/a 

ash, 
other 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Technical capabilities 

Environmental potential 

Economic potential 

Group 

y
t
e
f
a
S

d
e
t
c
i
d
e
r
P

)
y
(

e
m

i
t
e
f
i
l

l

a
r
e
n
e
G

f
o

y
t
i
l
i

b
a
c
i
l

p
p
a

n
o
i
s
s
i
m
e

n
o
i
t
c
u
d
e
r

r
o
f

e
r
u
s
a
e
m

d
n
a

h
c
t
a
b

,
e
s
c
u
n
o
a
u
n
n
e
i
t
t
n
n
o
a
c
M

i

n
y
o
c
i
t
n
s
e
u
u
b
q
m
e
r
o
f
c

LSH (wood logs) + 
catalyst 

Safe 

CAT 
<5?d 

Catalyst: case 
by case 

LSH (pellets) + 
catalyst 

Safe 

CAT 
<5?d 

Catalyst: case 
by case 

LSH (wood logs) + 
ESP 
LSH (wood logs) + 
PCM heat 
exchanger 

Safe 

20 

ESP: both 

n/a  

n/a  

Heat 
exchanger: 
case by case 

Severa
l times 
per 
yeare  
Severa
l times 
per 
yeare  
Normal
a 
n/a 

LSH (wood logs) + 
heat exchanger + 
ESP 

n/a  

n/a  

Heat 
exchanger+ES
P: case by case 

n/a 

n/a 

Pellet stove 

Safe 

20 

not applicable  Normal 

Normal 

l
c
/
e
c
n
a
n
e
t
n
a
M

i

t
r
o
f
f
e

i

,
g
n
n
a
e

d
e
d
e
e
n

Cat 
replaced/cleane
d by user 

l

y
g
o
o
n
h
c
e
T

l

e
v
e

l

i

s
s
e
n
d
a
e
r

t
s
u
d

l

a
t
o
T

)
3

m
/
g
m

(

)
3

m
/
g
m

(
C
G
O

)
3

m
/
g
m

(
O
C

)
3

m
/
g
m

(

x

O
N

e
t
s
a
W

)
r
e
h
t
o
/
h
s
a
(

7-9, in 
market 

25-
65 

75 

30-
1000 

n/a 

ash 

t
s
o
c

e
s
a
h
c
r
u
P

)
€
(

1700
-
3200 

l

a
n
o
i
t
a
r
e
p
O

r
a
e
y
/
)
€
(

s
t
s
o
c

n
o
i
t
a

l
l

a
t
s
n
I

)
€
(

t
s
o
c

15 

40 

Cat 
replaced/cleane
d by user 

7-9, in 
market 

n/a 

15 

140 

120 

ash 

3200 

15 

40 

Normala 

n/a 

9, in 
market 
4, 
validate
d in a 
lab, 
prototyp
e 
4, 
validate
d in a 
lab, 
prototyp
e 
9, in the 
market 

10-
100 
15 

45 

40 

900-
1700 
900 

120 

ash 

4200 

15 

n/a 

ash 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

300-
2000 
n/a, 
proto 

45 

n/a 

1900 

n/a 

ash, 
other 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

n/a, 
proto 

25 

20 

300 

155 

ash 

15 

200 

1500
-
5000 

a Normal maintenance = Sweeping is required once or twice per year by chimney sweeper. Bottom ash is removed by the user.  b Not generally applicable as retrofit    
c Combustion appliance + possible emission reduction solution  d Depends on operational hours;  not much information available  e Depends on operational hours and 
particle load, danger of clogging 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

3.3  Screening of technologies  

For the screening, the following criteria and protocol were followed. The screening process is also 
shown in Figure 3.2. It was modified from the evaluation process by VITO80.  

  STEP 1: The technical capability of an example technology was evaluated considering product 
safety, predicted lifetime and robustness. Robustness consisted of the maintenance frequency 
and the effort it requires, and general applicability. Technologies considered technically capable 
continued to the next step. Steps 1 to 3 of the evaluation of technology groups are presented 
in Table 3.2. The following criteria were applied:  

Safety: The risk of the damage in the building structures (eg. fire, water leakage, corrosion) 

- Increases the risk 

0 No effect on the risk 

+ Reduces the risk 

Predicted lifetime: It was assessed whether the features of the technology deem to decrease 
the lifetime of the system 

- Reduces the lifetime 

0 No effect on the lifetime 

+ Increases the lifetime 

General applicability: The applicability of the emission reduction technology for all appliance 
types (continuous/batch combustion) 

- Not applicable for both 

+ Generally applicable 

Maintenance: frequency 

- Requires maintenance/cleaning several times per year 

0 Requires maintenance/cleaning once or twice per year 

+ Does not require maintenance/cleaning 

Maintenance: easiness 

- Requires great effort, or is expensive 

+ Requires effort comparable to emptying of bottom ashes, or the price is reasonable 

Overall assessment of the technical capability 

Yes: If all criteria are + or 0 

Depends on the situation: If all are + or 0, and general applicability or predicted lifetime – 

No: If at least one of the criteria is – (except general applicability or predicted lifetime) Not 
classified 

  STEP 2: The environmental potential of the technology was assessed based on air emissions 
and waste that required disposal. If the overall effect was positive, the technology candidate 
was screened forward.  

Total dust, OGC, CO, NOx, waste: For each, the effect on emissions was assessed 

80 G. Janssens, K. Custers, D.Huybrechts. Best Available Techniques (BAT) for Domestic Wood Heating, VITO. May 2020. 

43 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

- Increases the emissions 

0 No effect on the emissions 

+ Reduces the emissions 

Overall assessment of environmental potential 

Yes: If one or more results are + and other 0 

No: If one or more results are – and other 0  Not classified 

If both + and – exist, the proportions of the increases and decreases are assessed. Increase 
of waste is accepted if air emissions decrease. 

  STEP 3: The technology was screened for its readiness level81. If the technology readiness 
level (TRL) was assessed to be experimentally proven, but not yet brought to the market, for 
example it was still in the stage of the field-test and additional development was needed, it 
was classified as BNAT. The technology in the market was screened forward. 

Technology readiness 

Yes: TRL 9, in the market 

No: TRL 1-8, not in the market BNAT 

  STEP  4:  The  fulfilment  of  emission  limit  values  in  the  Ecodesign  Regulations  ((EU) 
2015/118582 or (EU) 2015/118983) was assessed. If the emissions were valued to be lower 
or  on  the  same  level,  the  technology  was  screened  forward.  If  they  were  higher,  the 
technology was further studied for information on retrofitted solution. If there were emission 
levels available on the retrofitted version, the screening was started from the beginning. If 
not, the technology was not classified. Steps 4 and 5 of the evaluation of technology groups 
are presented in Table 3.3 Evaluation of technology groups against screening criteria, steps 
4-5. 

Total dust, OGC, CO, NOx 

- Emission higher than emission limit value 

0 Emission on the same level as emission limit value 

+ Emission lower than emission limit value 

Overall assessment of fulfilment of Ecodesign emission limit values 

Yes: For each component, result is + or 0 

No: For any component, result is –  

  STEP 5: Economic potential of the identified BAT technologies was assessed in Step 5. This 
was  defined  quantitatively  as  a  ratio  of  the  purchase  cost  of  the  candidate  technology 
against annual net earnings 202084 (two-earner couple with two children both earning 100 
% of the average earning). The threshold was below 5 to 10 % of the annual net earnings. 
The affordability was assessed for three classes of earnings, income class 1 (12800 €, lowest 

81 European commission. 2020. Horizon 2020-Work Programme 2014-2015. 

82 COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2015/ 1185 - of 24 April 2015 - implementing Directive 2009/ 125/ EC of the European 

Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for solid fuel local space heaters (europa.eu). 

83 COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2015/ 1189 - of 28 April 2015 - implementing Directive 2009/ 125/ EC of the European 

Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for solid fuel boilers (europa.eu) 

84 Statistics | Eurostat (europa.eu), https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_nt_net/default/table?lang=en 

(7.4.2021) (7.4.2021) 

44 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

in EU), income class 2 (51400 €, EU-27 average) and income class 3 (92000 €, highest in 
EU).  
The technology was assessed as BAT A (Best Available Technology for any income class), 
BAT  B  (Best  Available  Technology,  income  class  2  or  higher)  or  BAT  C  (Best  Available 
Technology, income class 3), or it was not classified. 
The technology was assessed as BAT case by case if the result from the general applicability 
assessment was - (Step 1). 
In the screening, the following assumptions were taken: 

 

 

 

o  ESPs do not affect gas emissions 
o  Catalytic converter does not reduce NOX emissions 
o  Most of the results have been obtained from non-standardized tests, although same 
procedures  have  been  partly  followed.  Differences  in,  e.g.,  sampling  times  have 
been  considered  whenever  possible.  Despite  the  differences  the  obtained  results 
have been compared with the Ecodesign limit values 

o  Screening is based on available information that was assessed to be representative. 
The screening represents the situations at the time of the reporting and changes in 
the screened technologies, legislation or European income may affect the screening 
result  

45 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 3.2 Screening for Best Available Technologies. 

46 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 3.2 Evaluation of technology groups against screening criteria, steps 1-3.  

Technical capability 

Environmental potential 

Group 

Boiler + advanced air staging 

Boiler + charger + additional 
(cyclone/condensing heat exchanger) 
Boiler + cyclone 

Boiler + ESP 

Boiler (manually stoked) + ESP 

Slow heat release appliance (wood 
logs) + air staging 
LSH (wood logs) + automatic control 

LSH (wood logs) + cat + ESP 

LSH (wood logs) + catalyst 

LSH (pellets) + catalyst 

LSH (wood logs) + ESP 

d
e
t
c
i
d
e
r
P

e
m

i
t
e
f
i
l

l
a
r
e
n
e
G

y
t
i
l
i

b
a
c
i
l

p
p
a

,
e
c
n
a
n
e
t
n
i
a
M

y
c
n
e
u
q
e
r
f

l
c
/
e
c
n
a
n
e
t
n
i
a
M

t
r
o
f
f
e
,
g
n
n
a
e

i

d
e
d
e
e
n

0 

 + 

0 

 + 

y
t
e
f
a
S

0 

n/a 

n/a 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

 - 
(cbc)b 
 - 
(cbc)b 
 - 
(cbc)b 
0 

 - 

 - 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 +/-a 

  - 
(cbc)c 
  - 
(cbc)c 
  - 
(cbc)c 
 + 

  - 
(cbc)d 
  - 
(cbc)e 
-/+f 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

0 

0 

0 

0 

 - 

 - 

 - 

0 

n/a 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 - 

 - 

 - 

 + 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

0 

+ 

t
s
u
d

l
a
t
o
T

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

0 

C
G
O

O
C

 + 

 + 

0 

0 

0 

0 

 + 

 + 

0 

 + 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

 + 

 + 

0 

 + 

0 

0 

x

O
N

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

LSH (wood logs) + PCM heat 
exchanger 
LSH (wood logs) + heat exchanger + 
ESP 
Pellet stove 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

0 

0 

e
t
s
a
W

)
r
e
h
t
o
/
h
s
a
(

0 

 - 

 - 

 - 

 - 

0 

0 

 - 

0 

 - 

0 

Technology 
readiness 
level 

9, in market 

4, validated in a 
lab, prototype 
4, validated in a 
lab, prototype 
9, in market 

9, in market 

9, in market 

9, in market 

9, in market 

4, validated in a 
lab, prototype 
4, validated in a 
lab, prototype 
9, in the 
market 

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Notes for Table 3.2: a Not generally applicable as retrofit, b catalyst has to be changed more often compared to combustion appliance c In high particle 
concentrations risk of clogging, d prototype systems, cannot be retrofitted; e prototype systems, f assumed that pellet stoves do not reduce emissions. 
However, if comparison is made against logwood-fueled local space heaters, pellet stoves produce less emissions. 

Table 3.3 Evaluation of technology groups against screening criteria, steps 4-5 

Group 

Classification 

Comparison to  

Economic potential: 

Ecodesign limit values 

purchase price % of income 

Total 
dust  

OGC  

CO  

NOx   Income class 1  Income class 2  Income class 3 

Boiler + advanced air staging 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

70 

18 

10 

Boiler + charger + additional 
(cyclone/condensing heat exchanger) 

Boiler + cyclone 

Boiler + ESP 

Boiler (manually stoked) + ESP 

Slow heat release appliance (wood logs) + 
air staging 

LSH (wood logs) + automatic control 

LSH (wood logs) + cat + ESP 

LSH (wood logs) + catalyst 

LSH (pellets) + catalyst 

LSH (wood logs) + ESP 

LSH (wood logs) + PCM heat exchanger 

LSH (wood logs) + heat exchanger + ESP 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

 + 

0 

0 

0 

0 

59 

59 

39 

27 

 + 

0 

0 

0 

33 

Pellet stoves 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

20 

15 

15 

10 

7 

8 

5 

8 

8 

5 

4 

5 

3 

BAT C 

BNAT 

BNAT 

BAT C 

BAT C 

BAT B 

BAT B 

None 

None 

None 

BAT B 

BNAT 

BNAT 

BNAT B 

48 

 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

3.4  Conclusions on BATs and BNATs 

Combustion  technology  affects  the  release  of  emissions  significantly.  The  choice  of  combustion 
technology and type of appliance is affected by the heating demand, facilities at the building and 
other aspects like personal preference.  

In  addition,  combustion  technology  also  affects  how  the  appliance  is  used.  For  the  sake  of 
presenting  the  screened  BATs  and  BNATs,  they  are  further  discussed  and  grouped  according  to 
combustion technology principle which is local space heater, and boilers. The result represents the 
present situation and technological development or new legislation, for example, can affect the BAT 
classification. New application appear on the market and existing technologies are further developed 
over time. 

Operational practices and fuel qualities are not specifically in the scope of this study. However, user 
behaviour, correct installation of the combustion appliance systems and fuel quality can also greatly 
affect  the  release  of  emissions  from  solid  fuel  local  space  heaters.  Fuel  moisture  content  is 
specifically important both in emission reduction and in efficient use on solid fuel local space heaters 
and boilers. These factors should be additionally considered in emission reduction actions from solid 
fuel household heating systems. User has less influence on the emissions and efficiency in automatic 
residential boilers, although fuel moisture can be a problem in wood chip boilers and the chemical 
composition of the fuel affects the particle emissions.  

There  are  special  regional  features  within  the  EU  area  that  affect  the  use  of  combustion 
technologies. The most pronounced differences are in the heating demand, which is affected by the 
local climate conditions. For example, boiler systems are more suitable for high heating demand 
regions, whereas  local space  heaters  are  better  suited for additional  sources of heat and can be 
used in both high and low heating demand areas.  

Local sources of fuel also affect the use of different combustion systems. Certain Eastern European 
countries have local sources for coal, and coal has been historically used in local space heaters. In 
addition, special attention should also be paid to old burning local space heaters (both wood and 
coal-fired),  which  are  still  used  in  several  regions.  On  the  other  hand,  the  abundance  and  easy 
access to wood makes it an attractive source of heat and unofficial market is commonly taken place. 

European wide regulations for solid fuel household heating solutions emissions have only recently 
come into force for boilers and local space heaters. Until now, the emission legislation has greatly 
varied between the EU countries. Stringent emission limits in certain countries, or even on certain 
regions,  has  resulted  in  technological  improvements  in  combustion  systems  that  produce  less 
emissions. 

3.4.1  BAT for local space heaters  

In the screening of the BAT technologies for local space heaters, four BAT technology systems were 
found:  

slow heat release appliance + air staging  

 
  wood log local space heater + automatic control  
  wood log local space heater + ESP  
 

pellet stove 

These technologies are economically feasible for the income class 2, with 51 400 € yearly income. 
Slow heat release appliances and LSHs were fuelled with wood logs, while pellet stoves were fuelled 
with pellets. 

49 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Two technology groups were additionally classified as BNAT. These technologies are:  

  wood log local space heater + heat exchanger   
  wood log local space heater + heat exchanger + ESP  

BNAT  technologies  have  potential  in  their  technical  and  environmental  capabilities,  but  their 
applicability has only been proven in test conditions. Additionally, retrofitting an automated control 
system to an existing local space heater should only be done with great care and by a trained expert 
to ensure correct operation. All BNAT technologies were fuelled with wood logs. 

3.4.2  BAT for boilers  

In the screening of the BAT technologies for boilers, three BAT technology systems were identified  

 
 
 

boiler (automatic) + advanced air staging  
boiler (automatic) + ESP  
boiler (manually stoked) + ESP  

The higher purchase cost of the boiler compared to local space heaters resulted in BATs which are 
only economically feasible for the highest income class (92 000 €/year). Wood logs were used in 
the manually stoked boiler + ESP systems that were screened, while pellets (boiler + advanced air 
staging) and wood chips (boiler + advanced air staging, boiler (automatic) + ESP) were used in 
other screened boilers.  

Two technologies were classified as BNAT: 

 
 

boiler (automatic) + charger + additional technology  
boiler (automatic) + cyclone  

These  technologies  have  potential  in  their  technical  and  environmental  capabilities,  but  their 
applicability has only been proven in test conditions. Wood chips are used in these boilers. 

3.4.3  General remark 

Authors are aware that there may be other solid fuel household heating solutions that fulfil the BAT 
criteria of this report than the presented ones. These limitations are mainly due to lack of available 
and accessible scientific or other high-quality publications for certain technologies, and due to the 
available time and resources. The BAT classification is not a fixed state and will evolve over time. 

There are two specifically important groups that should be noted: 1) Fuels are discussed and defined 
in this report, but other fuels in similar system could lead to same screening result (for example 
pellets  and  wood  chips  in  boilers).  2)  Individual  combustion  appliances,  such  as  modern  wood-
fuelled  local  space  heaters,  pellet  stoves,  pellet  boilers  or  wood  chip  boilers  could  result  as  BAT 
technologies if they were screened individually using the same criteria. However, the screening was 
chosen to be performed only for technology system including a combustion appliance and emission 
reduction technology.  

Screening in this chapter has been made based on the information gathered from scientific literature 
and report, appliance manufacturers and  authors of  the literature, and from  stakeholders. There 
are  always  limitations  in  this  type  of  information.  The  main  point  of  uncertainty  is  the  general 
applicability of the results, and extension of the results within the same appliance groups to those 
appliances that were not part of the screening.  This applies to screening results and appliances; 
BAT, BNAT and not classified.    

It  has  been  pointed  out  the  proper  maintenance  and  installation  of  the  combustion  appliances 
(including  correct  type  of  chimney)  are  important  parts  of  well-operating  and  low  emitting 
combustion  appliances.  However,  proper  installation  and  maintenance  are  somewhat  difficult  to 

50 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

quantify and grade, and well-defined information is not widely available. Thereby maintenance and 
installation are identified as important parts of the  use of residential combustion appliances, but 
they are not further discussed in this report.  

51 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

4.  ANALYSIS OF CURRENT AND FUTURE MARKET DEMAND 

AND MARKET TRENDS 

4.1  Objective and method 

The objective of the market analysis is to evaluate the market size and potential solid fuel household 
heating  solutions  to  subsequently  assess  the  potential  of  the  previously  outlined  BAT  and  BNAT 
technologies. In doing so the analysis will consist of 3 steps:  

  A sizing of the current market. In doing so the insights regarding different appliance types 
from the technical analysis will be levered, and among others used to segment the market 
into relevant sectors.  

  Assessment of underlying trends and drivers for the market.  
  Market sizing of the future demand for the household heating solution market. 

They are presented in more detail in the Figure below. 

Figure 4.1 Overview of market analysis methodology

4.2  Market sizing of current technologies  

When assessing the EU market for solid fuel household heating solutions the Member States have 
been  grouped  into  four  segments,  with  respect  to  similar  geographical  and  climate  related 
requirements, cultural background, and  consumer behaviour.  The four market  segments are  the 
Nordics, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Southern Europe as illustrated in Figure 4.2. 

52 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 4.2 Segmentation of EU Member States 

When proceeding to  the market analysis each part of  the  three-step  structure  has been  done in 
parallel for the four market segments, outlining the current market size for all four segments before 
analysing  trends.  This  is  to  allow  for  the  highest  degree  of  transparency  in  the  analysis  and 
effectively communicate any regional differences.  

4.2.1  Sizing the current market  

For establishing a baseline measure for the size of the market, European wide datasets have been 
utilised. In this regard EUROSTAT provides annual national data for the total energy consumption 
by a household85. This data has further been disaggregated by fuel type, allowing for a rather fine-
grained  assessment  of  the  total  energy  use  in  the  relevant  categories  for  solid  fuel  household 
heating solutions. This dataset has subsequently been used as an initial starting point for the market 
sizing across all four market segments, due to the availability of reliable national data as well as 
the ability to rather closely track energy use for solid fuel local space heating.  

In our analysis we have used the following categories from the data set: Primary solid biofuels and 
Solid fossil fuels. This has been done to eliminate any non-solid fuels from the analysis to fit with 
the  scope  of  the  market  sizing.  In  doing  so  most  irrelevant  data  from  the  dataset  have  been 
discarded  as  it  is  either  non-solid  or  heat  losses.  However,  since  the  database  accounts  for  all 
energy use in the household and not just space heating some of the energy consumption reported 
in the dataset is attributed to cooking or water heating instead of space heating. In order to account 
for this, it has been assumed that 91% of the solid fuel used by households  are spent on space 
heating86. This assumption relies on the fact that on average in the EU 91% of solid fuel energy use 

85 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ten00125/default/table?lang=en 

86 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-

explained/index.php?title=File:Final_energy_consumption_in_the_residential_sector_by_type_of_end-
uses_for_the_main_energy_products,_EU-27,_2018_.png 

53 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

by  households  are  used  for  space  heating.  Thus,  by  multiplying  the  values  for  the  selected 
categories by a factor of 0.91 the solid fuel used only for space heating have been isolated from the 
data set, assuming that all member states are at the EU average. We acknowledge that this is a 
rather strong assumption, however, due to the lack of national data regarding the relative share of 
solid fuel consumption for space heating by households, this methodology has been adopted.  

The Nordics  

The Nordic region is characterised by a rather high penetration of centralized heating solutions like 
district  heating.  In  Denmark  district  heating  dominates  the  market  with  60%  market  share.  A 
similarly  high  market  penetration  of  50.4%  and  53.7%  is  seen  respectively  in  Sweden87  and 
Finland88.  However,  the  use  of  district  heating  is  mainly  prevalent  in  urbanized  areas,  thus 
alternative solutions are utilized in more rural parts of the region. In that respects the Nordics have 
a comparatively high proportion of biomass boilers is used in non-urban areas. This attributes to 
the Nordics having a moderately high share of final energy consumption by households being based 
on solid fuels. The energy share has been rather stable (between 16-18%) over the last 12 years 
as seen in Table 4.189. This is especially noteworthy as the Nordics have not been using any solid 
fossil fuels in households since 201790, which indicates that all solid fuel local space heating is done 
with biomass. 

Table 4.1 Solid fuel share of household energy consumption – Nordics  

Year 

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

5
1
0
2

6
1
0
2

7
1
0
2

8
1
0
2

9
1
0
2

% of total 
energy 
consumptio
n  

16.6 

16.4 

15.7 

18.8 

18.8 

17.7 

18.2 

18.3 

18.4 

17.6 

16.7 

16.3 

This development in the uptake of biomass heaters is further underpinned by the annual sales of 
solid fuel heaters doubling since 1990 in the EU15, a development to which the Nordics have been 
a  large  contributor91.  In  addition  to  the  uptake  in  biomass  boilers,  the  Swedish  market  is  also 
experiencing a high adoption rate of electric heat pumps which is attributed to an abundant supply 
of cheap electricity, making electric solutions comparatively attractive. 

From  the  EUROSTAT  dataset,  a  rather  volatile,  but  long-term  stable  market  for  solid  fuel 
consumption can be identified with a total energy use in 2019 of 2.8 million tonnes of oil equivalents 
(see Figure 4.3). By multiplying these figures with the EU average of 91% of solid fuel energy being 
used for space heating in household an adjusted figure for the total energy consumption for space 
heating can be found.  

87 https://www.euroheat.org/knowledge-hub/district-energy-sweden/ 

88 https://energia.fi/files/4092/District_heating_in_Finland_2018.pdf 

89 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ten00125/default/table?lang=en 

90 EUROSTAT – Excel file  

91 https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/10102/2015/EN/10102-2015-90-EN-F1-1-ANNEX-1.PDF  

54 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 4.3 Historic solid fuel market size by type of fuel [tonnes of oil equivalents] 

Knowing the total energy consumption for space heating in the market has allowed for a solid 
approximation of the total market size, given a lack of accurate national data on the currently 
installed stock of solid fuel household heating solutions. When approximating this, data from 
Member States where the figures were available has been used to calculate an average energy 
consumption per installed unit of heater. This figure has subsequently been assumed to be the 
average energy use per heater in the market region and thus been used to extrapolate the total 
stock installed from the energy consumption. This figure has further been cross referenced with 
the national data provided by stakeholders. Taking the input from the stakeholders into account 
has allowed for an improved accuracy of the model as modifications to the underlying 
assumptions have been made in order the model’s predictions to better align with Member states 
where we obtained hard data.  

Proceeding with the estimation accurate data regarding the installed stock in Denmark and Sweden 
is available with an installed capacity of solid fuel space heaters of 73,000 and 178,000 respectively 
in 2017.  This implies  an energy consumption  per unit  in 2017 of  0.621 tonnes of oil  equivalent. 
Having scaled that to the entire Nordic market yields an implied stock of 4,628,667 units. In 2019 
numbers, this  would  equate to  4,160,851  units.  Since  the  energy  usage  is impacted  by  multiple 
factors, among others weather conditions, we will proceed with the 2019 numbers as the baseline 
for the installed stock, as it is less of an outlier than 2017 in terms of volatility over time. 

While the market size of the installed stock may be  4,160,851 units, the addressable market,  is 
given by the number of new units sold annually. Given an estimate of an appliance lifetime of 28 
years92,  that  would  imply  an  annual  replacement  rate  of  3.57%.  Assuming  the  following 
replacement rate 148,602 units would be addressable in 2019.  

Knowing both the aggregate market size as well as the annually addressable market these estimates 
have been further subdivided to indicate the distribution of different appliance types. In this regard 
a distinction between boilers and local space heaters have been made in line with the delineation 
of appliances from the technical assessment. The reason for the distinction arises as the utilization 
of  the  two  appliance  types  are  significantly  different,  as  local  space  heaters  predominantly  are 
located within the room in which it is intended to apply heat. Conversely, boilers are usually located 
into designated boiler rooms. Heat is then transferred to fluid, which is circulated in housing areas 

92 Ramboll assessment  

55 

 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

where heating is done through radiators or floor heating. Boiler heating systems may be equipped 
with heat storage tanks. Boiler may also be used for heating up hot water. For the Nordic market a 
local  space  heater/boiler  distribution  in  the  market  of  80/20  is  assumed  as  this  is  the  average 
distribution for EU2893. Given this distribution the addressable market for LSHs and boilers in the 
Nordics have subsequently been estimated to be: 118,881 and 29,720 respectively.  

Western Europe 

The  Western  European  market  is  characterised  by  large  stock  of  installed  gas  boilers  which  are 
comparatively modern and highly efficient. This has been the result of policy incentives in the region 
which  have  facilitated  the  adoption  of  modern  and  efficient  appliances.  Additionally,  the  great 
adoption of gas boilers is attributed to  a widespread  and mature gas distribution network in the 
countries.  Regarding  solid  fuel  boilers,  the  countries  are  quite  heterogeneous,  as  countries  like 
Austria  and  Germany  have  sizeable  stocks  installed  of  666,000  and  800,000  respectively94,  and 
biomass boilers amount to 3-15% of annual sales of heating units. Conversely, other Member States 
like  the  Netherlands  and  Belgium  in  the  group  have  a  comparatively  limited  number  of  biomass 
boilers,  and  less  than  1%  of  annual  sales  are  biomass  boilers.  However,  approximately  10%  of 
annual  sales  in  Germany  remain  coal  boilers95.  It  is  subsequently  a  highly  converted  energy 
consumption towards biomass when utilizing solid fuels for space heating.  

In this respect the development of solid fuel consumption is effectively a 1:1 measure for biomass 
consumption. In Table 4.2 it can be seen that the solid fuel consumption as a percentage of total 
household  energy  consumption  in  Western  Europe  has  been  slowly  but  steadily  increasing  since 
2008, with a minor increase of 1.4%-points over the 12-year period.  

Table 4.2 Solid fuel share of household energy consumption – Western Europe  

Year 

% of total 
energy 
consumptio
n  

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

5
1
0
2

6
1
0
2

7
1
0
2

8
1
0
2

9
1
0
2

9.2 

9.9 

9.9 

10.4 

10.8 

10.8 

11.0 

11.0 

11.0 

11.0 

10.6 

10.6 

When approximating the current market size of solid fuel local space heaters for Western Europe, 
the  same  methodological  approach  has  been  used  as  described  in  the  Nordics-section.  The 
EUROSTAT dataset of household energy consumption has been used, as well as the EU-average of 
91% of solid fuels being used for space heating. Having combined these data and assumptions for 
the Western European market we get the following market size of space heating by thousands of 
tonnes of oil equivalents used for solid fuel space heating.  

93 https://www.expobiomasa.com/en/the-number-of-pellet-stoves-and-boilers-operating-in-the-eu-increases-by-10-a-year 
94 European Heating Industry (EHI) market report 2020 

95 https://www.schornsteinfeger.de/sonderdruck-2019.pdfx?forced=true&forced=true 

56 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 4.4 Solid fuel share of household energy consumption – Western  

With a total energy consumption of 2,628,595 thousand tonnes of oil equivalents in 2019 as well 
as a per unit energy consumption of  0.656 tonnes annual in the market the total market size in 
2019 has been approximated to be 21,752,955 units.  

To  estimate  the annually  addressable  market  the  same  methodology has been applied as in the 
Nordics. An assumed lifetime of each appliance of 28 years has been used to estimate the annual 
replacement  rate  in  the  market.  In  doing  so  the  annual  replacements  in  the  Western  European 
market amounts to 776,891 units in 2019.  

The Western European  market is comparative to the rest of the EU  market favouring the use  of 
boilers when using solid fuel for local space heating, however a preference for LSHs are still present 
in this region. The estimates provided by EXPOBiomasa suggest that Western Europe has a higher 
proportion of boilers to local space heaters than the EU average96. Country specific differences may 
still apply as it is noted that the French market strongly favours local space heaters over boilers. 
Based  on  EXPOBiomasa’s  report  a  split  of  66/33  between  local  space  heaters  and  boilers  in  the 
Western  European  market  has  been  assumed.  Under  this  assumption  the  annually  addressable 
market for local space heaters and boiler is: 520,517 and 256,374 respectively. 

Southern Europe 

The  southern  European  market  sees  a  highly  increasing  usage  of  hybrid  heat  pumps,  with  Italy 
being the largest EU market for this product category. Additionally, gas boilers are the preferred 
heating appliance by fuel type. A comparatively limited usage of solid fuel boilers is observed in the 
market with the category only representing roughly 1% of annual sales, however, a large stock of 
old solid fuel boilers is in place. Despite the number of stocks installed as well as the limited new 
sales  and  subsequent  upgrades  of  the  assets  in  place,  solid  fuel  consumption  represent  a  high 
proportion of household  energy  consumption  (totalling  approx.  20%)  relative to Western Europe 
and the Nordics97. This is among others argued to be attributed to a higher energy use per unit in 
this region, which partly is a result of house being less insulated than in Western Europe and the 
Nordics. While the solid fuel energy usage has been rather stable year-to-year, it has been steadily 
decreasing over the last 12 years as seen in Table 4.3. 

96 https://www.expobiomasa.com/en/the-number-of-pellet-stoves-and-boilers-operating-in-the-eu-increases-by-10-a-year 

97 EUROSTAT + RMC analyses 

57 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 4.3 Solid fuel share of household energy consumption – Southern Europe  

Year 

% of total 
energy 
consumptio
n  

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

5
1
0
2

6
1
0
2

7
1
0
2

8
1
0
2

9
1
0
2

20.3 

20.0 

18.3 

15.2 

18.8 

19.3 

19.1 

19.1 

18.6 

19.6 

19.0 

19.2 

While a potential declining trend in the market size has been identified the current market size has 
been estimated using the same methodology as in the Nordics-section. Using the same dataset and 
assumption  of  energy  distribution  by  category  the  stock  of  installed  solid  fuel  space  heaters  the 
following development in the market size based on fuel consumption is observed. 

Figure 4.5 Solid fuel share of household energy consumption – Southern Europe  

Having used the following market data to estimate the total market size an implied energy per unit 
of  0,598  tonnes  of  oil  equivalents  has  been  estimated.  This  yields  an  estimated  market  size  of 
15,522,416 units in 2019. Given the previously installed methodology for estimating the annually 
addressable market an annual market size of 554,372 units have been estimated.  

Disaggregating the market estimates  for solid fuel heaters into local space heaters and boilers it 
has been assumed that the Southern European market has a 93/7 split between LSHs and boilers98. 
In doing so the projected addressable market for local space heaters and boilers is: 515,566 and 
38,806 units respectively.  

98 https://www.expobiomasa.com/en/the-number-of-pellet-stoves-and-boilers-operating-in-the-eu-increases-by-10-a-year 

58 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Eastern Europe  

The  Eastern  European  market  sees  the  highest  usage  of  solid  fuels  used  for  space  heating  with 
37.3% of total energy consumption in 2019. Additionally, in 2019, 32.8% of solid fuel usage came 
from  fossil  fuels  as  opposed  to  biomass.  Subsequently,  the  potential  for  emission  reductions  is 
substantial  by  substituting  old  coal  heaters  for  modern  biomass  heaters.  Poland  has  previously 
initiated  a  national  initiative  for  cleaner  air  increasing  the  replacement  rate  of  older  boilers  as 
highlighted in the state-of-affairs. In addition to the high proportion of solid fuel household heating 
solutions Eastern European urban areas have a high penetration of district heating. As a result, the 
main usage of solid fuel space heaters is in more rural parts of the country99.  

Although  the  solid  fuel  usage  is  predominantly  taking  place  in  rural  parts  Eastern  Europe,  the 
aggregate  share  of  energy  use  by  solid  fuel  has  historically  been  consistently  high.  However,  in 
recent years, the effects of national incentive programmes have started to be observed by a 2.3%-
point drop over two years since 2017 in the share of solid fossil fuel use for space heating. It is 
argued that this decline is predominantly driven by the substation away from older coal boilers.  

Table 4.4 Solid fuel share of household energy consumption – Eastern Europe  

Year 

% of total 
energy 
consumptio
n  

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

5
1
0
2

6
1
0
2

7
1
0
2

8
1
0
2

9
1
0
2

38.9 

39.7 

41.0 

40.8 

41.9 

41.8 

41.4 

41.0 

40.7 

39.6 

38.7 

37.3 

Following the comparatively high share of energy usage the total market size of for solid fuel based 
space heating in  Eastern Europe is subsequently proportionally larger than the previous  regions. 
From the EUROSTAT dataset the following market size based on energy usage has been observed.  

Figure 4.6 Solid fuel share of household energy consumption – Eastern Europe  

99 European Heating Industry (EHI) market report 2020 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Having applied the same methodology as previously employed, the dataset subsequently yields an 
approximated market size of 76,383,949 units of solid fuel space heaters in Eastern Europe in 2019. 
Assuming an average lifetime of appliances of 28 years, the annually addressable replacement is 
estimated to be 554,372 units in 2019. 

When assessing the relative share of local space heaters and boilers the Eastern European market 
is distinctively different from the other regions in so far as the prevalent use of coal for local space 
heating. For the purposes of the estimation, it has been assumed that coal usage is done 90% in 
boilers. With this assumption in mind, it follows from the market data that 88%100 of the Eastern 
European market for solid fuel local space heating is currently being fuel by coal. For the remaining 
part of the market, the EU average distribution of 80/20 between  local space heaters and boilers 
has been assumed. It subsequently follows that the Eastern European market currently consists of 
81.6%  boilers  and  18.6%  local  space  heaters.  This  subsequently  corresponds  to  an  addressable 
market for local space heaters and boilers of: 507,408 and 2,226,047 respectively. 

Table 4.5 Summary on current market sizes 

Market 
segment 

Nordics 

Western 
Europe  
Southern 
Europe 
Eastern 
Europe 

Estimated current 
market size  

Addressable 
market annually 

4,160,851 units 

148,602 units 

21,752,955 units 

776,891 units 

15,522,416 units 

2,727,998 units  

76,383,949 units 

554,372 units  

Split of annually addressable market  

LSHs (80%) 
Boilers (20%) 
LSHs (70%) 
Boilers (30%) 
LSHs (93%) 
Boilers (7%) 
LSHs (18.6%) 
Boilers (81.4%) 

118,881 Units 
29,720 Units 
520,517 Units 
256,374 Units 
515,566 Units 
38,806 Units 
507,408 Units 
2,226,047 Units 

It is observed that the Eastern European region represent a significantly larger market for solid fuel 
space heaters. Additionally, the main fuel type in Eastern Europe is coal, as opposed to biofuel in 
the remaining regions.  

Lastly, in addition to the above market sizing an assessment of the market size specifically for local 
space  heaters  fuel  by  wood  pellets  has  been  done.  This  is  a  direct  result  of  the  findings  in  the 
technical analysis, as it suggests that pellet stoves are significantly different from other biomass 
local space heaters in terms of their harmful airborne- and carbon emissions. Subsequently, it is of 
interest  to  distinguish  this  segment  of  the  local  space  heater  market  from  the  rest.  There  is, 
however, a lack of available data outlining the distribution of biomass used in local space heaters 
across Member States. As a result hereof, the most recent data that currently has been applied in 
the analysis is a 2012 report outlining the distribution of biomass stock by fuel type as an aggregate 
for all EU Member States in 2010. From this report it is suggested that 4.35% of the installed stock 
of solid fuel household heating solutions are pellet stoves101. If the same distribution by biomass 
fuel type is still the case the current stock of pellet stoves in the four regions  is as shown in the 
table below.  

Table 4.6 Number of pellet stoves in the market 

Market segment 
Nordics  
Western Europe  
Southern Europe 
Eastern Europe 

Number of pellet stoves in the market  
95,105 
416,414 
412,453 
405,926 

100 EHI – Market report  

101 https://www.eup-network.de/fileadmin/user_upload/LRHS-20120716ExplanatoryNotesFINAL.PDF 

60 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

As these numbers currently rely upon an EU average, there are a limited value in discussing regional 
differences, as they have not been modelled. However, the latter breakdown, allows for a concrete 
understanding of the relative market size of pellet stoves, given the latter market sizing.  

4.2.2  Trends and drivers  

When having assessed the trends and drivers of the solid fuel local space heating market in Europe 
we have, among others, drawn upon the identified incentives and programmes in place  from the 
State-of-affairs. Throughout the analysis multiple trends have been identified, with some applying 
to all regions, while others are region-specific. As a result, the following will be structured such that 
universal trends applicable to all markets will be presented first, followed by region-specific trends.  

Universally applicable trends 

Multiple trends have been identified, however, the four trends deemed the most impactful on future 
market  demand  are  presented  in  the  following  paragraphs.  The  trends  are:  Decreasing  heating 
demand, increasing regulation of solid fuel local space heaters, improved  construction standards, 
and household income.  

Reduced heating demand 

From  the  EUROSTAT  database  a  national  breakdown  of  historical  year-by-year  recorded  heating 
degree  days  (HDD)102  has  been  extracted103.  HDD  is  the  number  of  degrees  a  day’s  average 
temperature was below 18 degrees Celsius. Annual HDD is thus the sum of the deviations over the 
year.  From  this  dataset  some  clear  developments  can  be  identified  when  compiled  into  the 
geographical  regions  defined  in  this  analysis.  As  expected,  the  aggregate  level  of  heating  days 
varies quite significantly between regions, with Eastern Europe having the highest HDD demand of 
31,682 in 2020 as opposed to Southern Europe’s 6,833 in the same period as the region with the 
lowest HDD requirements (this can be seen in Figure 4.7).  

102 HDD is the number of degrees that a day's average temperature is below 18 degrees Celsius, which is the temperature 
below which buildings need to be heated. HDD for a year is subsequently the sum of the daily deviations below 18 
degrees Celsius in a given year 

103 https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/setupDownloads.do 

61 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 4.7 Aggregate HDD per region  

Although  the  absolute  HDD  requirements  between  regions  varies  significantly,  the  relative 
development in the HDD requirements follows a very similar pattern across regions. When indexed 
to 1979, all regions have experienced a 14-20% drop in their respective number of HDD, as seen 
in the figure below. This persistent and stable trend subsequently indicates a general decrease in 
the heating demand faced by households in EU.  

Figure 4.8 Indexed HDD days per region – Indexed 1979  

However, while HDD requirements have been falling substantially since 1979, the installed stock of 
space heaters has not seen a proportional drop. This is attributed to the fact that while HDD as a 
yearly average measure of heating requirement is dropping the peak need for heating in the winter 

62 

 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

months is still present across Europe, although seasons may be shortening. As such the need to 
have  a  household  heating  solution  installed  is  still  present,  although  the  consumer  value  of  the 
product is decreasing. The overall need for the product is contracting and as such manufacturers 
need  to  be  aware  of  this  decreasing  delivered  value  to  their  customers.  Although  winter  season 
value creation still exists, the costs per heating hour faced by the consumer to cover that period is 
continuously  increasing  with  time  as  the  aggregate  need  for  space  heating  over  the  years  is 
diminishing.  

Increasing regulation of solid fuel household heating solutions 

In  the  efforts  to  achieve  higher  energy  efficiency  within  the  industry,  as  well  as  provide  more 
transparent  consumer  information,  the  EU  is  continually  developing  new  standards  and  labelling 
systems for appliances. This has most notably been seen with the implementation of the Ecodesign 
requirements 2015/1185, as well as the introduction of a new standardized labelling system with 
the commission Delegated regulation 2015/1186.  Increased regulation of the market is expected 
to alter the competitive landscape within the industry, and subsequently alter which products are 
being adopted by consumers.  

With the introduction of new standards  some  inefficient but cheap  boilers  are  rendered  obsolete 
and can no longer compete in the market. Additionally, the standardized labelling system allows for 
more  accurate  consumer  information,  and  subsequently  provides  consumers  with  a  better 
opportunity  to  compare  products  concerning  technical  and  performance  metrics,  instead  of  only 
evaluating products based on the initial price of acquisition.  

Additionally, increasing policy initiatives concerning clean air have been identified in the state-of-
affairs. These initiatives seek to mitigate and reduce the aggregate level of emissions arising from 
various  sources,  including  solid  fuel  heating,  as  it  is  deemed  a  main  contributor  to  air  pollution. 
Some examples of such initiatives are the NEC Directive and the Ecodesign regulations. In addition, 
multiple  national  initiatives  have  been  implemented  like  the  Kotlíková  subsidies  in  the  Czech 
Republic that among others ban the usage of non-performing boilers. These legislative measures 
have a huge impact on which technologies can operate in the market and remain competitive both 
technologically, by remaining compliant with legislation, as well as economically.  

As a result, it is argued that the introduction of the new regulations and standards are pushing the 
solid fuel space heater market towards less polluting and efficient appliances, as well as facilitating 
consumer  demand  for  products  that  provide  a  lower  total  cost  of  ownership  rather  than  low 
acquisition costs.  

Improved construction standards 

The EU is increasingly enhancing its construction legislation, and subsequently improving the energy 
efficiency of houses within the Union. This is in part a product of the ambition and commitment by 
the European Green Deal to improve energy efficiency across all sectors in the Union. Most recently 
this can be seen with the implementation of EU Directive 2018/844 which is amending the existing 
Directive 2010/31/EU on Energy Performance of Buildings.  This emphasis on energy efficiency in 
construction  of  homes,  and  the  subsequent  decrease  of  heating  requirements  due  to  improved 
insulation, will ultimately reduce the need for household heating solutions. While space heating may 
still be  needed  in the winter season,  downsizing  heaters to fit the  new  heating  requirements for 
modern homes will be needed and potentially poses a downward pressure on prices and margins, 
compared to the larger heaters currently deployed in the market.  

In addition to the higher construction standards, an increasing installation of electrical heat pumps 
has  been  observed  in  new  constructions104.  This  is  further  in  line  with  the  objectives  of  energy 

104 https://www.ehpa.org/market-data/ 

63 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

efficiency,  as  modern  heat  pumps  generally  provide  a  higher  efficiency  in  converting  electrical 
energy  into  heat  than  that  of  other  fuel  types105.  On  a  general  note,  the  expected  increasing 
electrification also within the heating sector, will increase private consumers exposure to electricity 
prices, as they are less diversified in terms of fuel usage. This is a consumer risk that policy makers 
should be aware of, as a result of the pursuit for energy efficiency.  

It is subsequently argued that this increased emphasis on energy efficiency will lead to a negative 
impact on the overall market development for solid fuel local space heaters, as it will increase the 
substitution of appliances away from being fuel with solid fuels towards higher efficiency fuels. 

Household income defines preferred solution by consumers  

A key driver when deciding how to update one’s appliance is the pricing of the different solutions. 
More specifically, the price relative to the household income, as consumers are pursuing the best 
possible  solution  for  them,  given  their  capital  constraints.  In  this  respect  it  is  expected  that 
consumers  with  a  high  household  income  are  more  likely  to  replace  existing  household  heating 
solution with the BAT technologies, as price is less of an issue for the decision making. Conversely, 
low-income  households  may  tend  towards  retrofitting  existing  units  or  purchasing  more  price 
competitive products in terms of acquisition costs.  

Based  on  the  latter  described  income  groups  in  the  technical  assessment,  it  is  argued  that  the 
Eastern European region will be the most price sensitive consumers due to a lower relative income 
level. Subsequently, a greater degree of retrofitting of existing solutions as well as purchases of 
non-BAT heaters is expected, as the monetary requirements for BAT acquisitions are too high to be 
feasible in most of the region. Conversely, the high-income regions in the Union are expected to 
experience  a  comparatively  high  adoption  rate  of  BAT  technologies,  since  the  relative  costs  are 
lower for these households. It is subsequently argued that adoption of BAT technologies is expected 
to be increasingly prevalent in the Northern and Western parts of the Union.  

In conclusion it is argued that household income is a key determinant for the consumer preference 
of technology across regions.  The importance of this trend is further emphasized by the regional 
differences in household incomes across the Union.  

To sum up the universally applicable trends, it is argued that the total European market for solid 
fuel LSH is faced with an increasing requirement energy efficiency as well as continuously tighter 
emission limits. Subsequently, the identified BAT technologies from the technical analysis is argued 
to be better positioned competitively in the market. This is attributed to them being better equipped 
to remain compliant in the face of increasing emission standards. Thereby, capturing market share 
from  older  boilers.  In  this  regard  it  is  especially  pellet  stoves  that  is  expected  to  become  the 
dominant  fuel  source  for  biomass  LSH,  as  this  combustion  provides  a  lower  aggregate  level  of 
emission than comparable wood fuels. Although the identified BAT technologies are argued to yield 
better performance, operational practices by the users can affect the efficiency of the combustion 
in the appliance. Especially, for units that rely on manual combustion cycles. It is subsequently in 
this  regard  that  BNAT  technologies  and  further  developed  BAT  technologies  among  others  are 
expected to potentially disrupt the market as more user-friendly solutions can ensure a better and 
more efficient combustion compared to older solutions.  

Regionally specific trends  

Nordics 

Two main regional trends will be highlighted: Taxation of energy usage and incentive schemes for 
replacement, as these two are deemed the most impactful trends for the region. 

105 https://www.evergreenenergy.co.uk/heat-pumps/heat-pump-vs-boiler/ 

64 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

The Nordics are quite progressive in their regulation and standardization of the fuel markets. Firstly, 
the  Nordic  countries  have  comparatively  high  taxes  on  fuel  usage  compared  to  other  Member 
States,  which  provides  a  negative  incentive  for  space  heating,  subsequently  shifting  demand 
towards better insulated houses  to minimize energy usage. Furthermore, the electricity prices in 
some Nordic countries like Sweden are low, making solid fuel appliances less competitive compared 
to electrical appliances (e.g. heat pumps). Furthermore, national governments in the Nordic region 
are actively investigating the implementation of a direct carbon tax106. An implementation hereof, 
would provide strong additional incentives to replace inefficient appliances, as a direct tax reduction 
would be obtained in doing so. 

Apart from the tax-related incentives provided in the Nordics a prevalent usage of voluntary labels 
as  opposed  to  other  regions  is  identified  in  the  state-of-affairs.  This  indicates  a  high  level  of 
consumer information, and awareness of product performance and metrics different from the price. 
Furthermore, the Nordics are  the only  EU  region in which  national wide  bans on  bad  performing 
boilers has been enforced, as identified in the state-of-affairs. This ensures a high lower-bound for 
emission standards within the region, subsequently increasing the replacement rate of inefficient 
boilers  for  the  inhabitants  to  remain  compliant  with  national  legislation.  Additionally,  the  Nordic 
region along with  the Western European region  are  the only  regions to  have enforced  utilization 
restrictions on boilers in order to lower the emissions.  

Lastly,  it  is  argued  that  the  market  split  between  boilers  and  local  space  heaters  will  remain 
relatively stable in the Nordics, as it is deemed a comparatively mature market. Consumers and 
industry players are aligned on what appliance type is preferable to them, and consumers have the 
necessary income to invest in BAT technology.  

In  conclusion  it  is  argued  that  the  regional  specific trends  for  the  Nordics,  makes  the  uptake  of 
efficient technologies  more prevalent, and that national legislation renders inefficient boilers  and 
local space heaters uncompetitive. This will subsequently increase the annual addressable market, 
as consumers are actively substituting appliances to remain compliant.  

Western Europe 

The  Western  European  region  is  generally  characterised  by  a  well-functioning  gas  distribution 
network. As a result, hereof most new boiler sales are condensing gas boilers. Apart from Austria 
with biomass boilers representing 15% of annual sales of appliances, solid fuel appliances only have 
a  market  penetration  of  approximately  2-3%  of  annual  sales.  This  is  attributed  to  the  abundant 
supply of gas in the national networks, making investments solid fuel appliances comparatively less 
competitive. 

Additionally,  the  Western  European  market  as  previously  described  has  nationally  enforced 
utilization restrictions on boilers. This use of policy tools to manage the market inherently favours 
products that can deliver the heating solution within the restrictions. As such the cheaper and less 
efficient boilers are expected to increasingly be pushed out of the market as regulations become 
increasingly tight.  

Lastly, the slow but steady increase in the use of solid fuel appliances is expected to increase in the 
market, as the market in which biomass boilers is utilized will see increasing adoption rates hereof, 
due to the tightening regulations, and increasing awareness of the environmental impact of older 
boilers. This expected development is further underpinned by the current and growing preference 
for boilers as opposed to LSHs in the Western European market107. As such this is not expected to 
affect the aggregate increase the Western European market, however, pellet boilers are reasonably 
expected to continually grow its market share among biomass appliances in the region.  

106 https://www.eceee.org/all-news/news/denmark-to-introduce-green-taxes-on-carbon-emissions/ 

107 https://www.expobiomasa.com/en/the-number-of-pellet-stoves-and-boilers-operating-in-the-eu-increases-by-10-a-year 

65 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

In conclusion the Western European market is expected to see a moderate growth in the solid fuel 
local space heating as the existing gas infrastructure makes it difficult to compete. However, in the 
Member States with a higher market penetration of solid fuel LSHs relative increase in the market 
share of pellet boilers is expected.  

Eastern Europe  

Some of the main characteristics of the Eastern European market will be highlighted in the following 
section such as:  

 
 

 

the abundant supply of cheap solid fuels,  
strong  national  subsidies  and  financial  incentives  to  replace  old  boilers  with  modern 
equipment with a time limit, and,  
the increasing urbanization of the region towards 2040.  

The  Eastern  European  market  has  by  far  the  largest  stock  of  installed  solid  fuel  appliances,  as 
established in the current market sizing. Additionally, more than half of the currently installed stock 
is running on coal as opposed to more carbon lenient fuels like biomass. This is attributed to the 
historic economic incentives present in the region with abundant supply of coal, making this fuel 
source  comparatively  cheap,  and  subsequently  a  more  competitive  product  for  price  sensitive 
consumers. However, in recent years an increasing rate of substitutions of old coal driven boilers 
towards biomass boilers has been observed.  

This  increasing  substitution  rate  is  among  others  directly  correlated  to  the  increasing  national 
policies  subsidizing  and  sometimes  fully  financing  the  replacement  of  old  appliances  with  new 
efficient appliances. Examples hereof as identified in the  state-of-affairs was the Polish incentive 
program  running  from  2014-2020  subsidizing  up  to  100%  of  the  replacement  cost  of  solid  fuel 
heaters, while the Czech Republic has had programmes in place covering up to 80% of replacement 
costs. These are very strong incentives for consumers, yielding a high impact on the replacement 
rate  as  observed  in  the  current  market  sizing.  However,  as  these  incentive  programmes  have  a 
limited  time  frame  although  the  Czech  programme  recently  has  been  extended  the  future 
replacement rate is expected to be reduced accordingly, as these financial incentives are declining 
in some member states.  

Additionally,  a  comparatively  strong  degree  of  urbanization  is  expected  in  the  region  towards 
2040108  with  an  expected  increase  in  urbanization  rate  ranging  from  10-15%-points.  As  district 
heating is a prevalent source of space heating in urban areas in the region this is expected to have 
a net negative impact on the total demand for solid fuel appliances. Both in terms of demand for 
expanding the total market, as well  as reducing  the replacement rate of the stock of old boilers 
predominantly installed in the rural regions of Eastern Europe.  

Lastly, when considering the future development in the distribution between boilers and local space 
heaters, the Eastern European market is faced with forces pulling in different directions. Historically, 
it has been observed in the state-of-affairs that there has been a structural preference for boilers 
regarding  the  national  incentive  schemes  encouraging  substitution  of  old  heating  units.  In  this 
respect the Czech subsidies were provided  for  replacement of  old  boilers with  new  low  emission 
boilers, and the Polish Government enforced utilization restrictions on LSHs alongside their subsidy 
policy, which negatively affected the competitiveness of LSH solutions. From this is argued that an 
increase in the relative share of boilers in the Eastern European market is to be expected. However, 
the substitution of old solid fuel boilers that remain solid fuel solutions are converted into biomass 
solutions (however, an increasing uptake in heat pumps is prevalent through incentives identified 
in  the  State-of-affairs).  Assuming  the  average  split  of  biomass  appliances  this  would  conversely 

108 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20210520-1 

66 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

provide a relative increase in the market  share  of  local space  heaters. The  net effect  of  the  two 
counter active forces is a minor increase in the market share of boilers going towards 2040. 

In conclusion the Eastern European market is faced with multiple market drivers both demographic, 
resource based, and political. All drivers that will impact the development of the solid fuel household 
heating solution market. It is expected that solid fuels will remain a competitive fuel source in the 
region due to the abundant supply hereof, however, the increased urbanization will move heating 
demand over to existing district heating networks which will foster a slight decrease in the market 
size.  Furthermore,  the  current  lack  of  renewal  of  policy  incentives  will  substantially  reduce  the 
substitution rate of older boilers with modern appliances. 

Southern Europe 

In the Southern European market one main trend is observed: The uptake of hybrid heat pumps. 
Due  to  the  comparatively  high  cooling  demand  in  Southern  Europe  in  the  summer  the  need  for 
space cool is almost as prevalent as the need for space heating in the winter. As a result, hybrid 
heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular, as they are compatible with the predominant usage 
of  gas  boilers  already  in  the  market,  and  simultaneously  offers  both  space  cooling  and  heating. 
Subsequently  this  combined  solution  becomes  price  competitive  against  the  alternative  of 
purchasing two separate units for heating and cooling.  

While this movement towards hybrid heat pumps is expected to shift demand in the market, it is 
argued  that  it  will  have  a  negligible  effect  on  the  addressable  market  for  solid  fuel  local  space 
heaters.  This  is  due  to the  fact  that  the  hybrid  heat  pumps  predominantly  are  expected  to  take 
market share from condensing gas boilers, as it is reliant on the common gas infrastructure to be 
in place. Usually the use of solid fuel appliances in the Southern European region is in geographical 
areas  in  which the  gas networks does not  reach,  and a gas boiler  is  therefore  an uncompetitive 
solution. It is predominantly due to this lack of direct competition between the two heater types 
that it is assumed that the move towards hybrid heat pumps will not have a substantial impact on 
the solid fuel demand.   

4.2.3  Future market demand  

Building on the latter identified trends and drivers as well as the current market size, a projection 
of future market demand has been developed by triangulating the different datapoints that have 
been gathered previously in the analysis. Prior to developing the individual regional projections, the 
impact of the universally applicable trends has been assessed. 

As argued previously, the impact of the increasing regulations and implementation of standards is 
expected to yield an uptake in the replacement and installation of new and more energy efficient 
space heaters. It has been assumed that the impact of the standards will not yield any significant 
redistribution between fuel types from the currently observed distribution of sales. Thus, solid fuels 
are  not  to  be  increasingly  substituted  for  non-solid  fuels  in  this  regard.  However,  redistribution 
within fuel types is expected to take place, as coal is expected to increasingly be faced out where 
it is used. Opposite to the positive effect from the regulations is the decreasing HDD requirements 
for households. However, as winter season heating demands are assumed to remain comparatively 
similar to previous years, the overall effect of the decreasing HDD requirements on the sales and 
replacement of space heaters is argued to be minimal. In totality, it is assumed that the net effect 
of the universally applicable trends is a 0.2% increase in the annual addressable market. 

Nordic future market demand  

In excess to the universally applicable trends as described above the Nordic region is expected to 
see an increasing  replacement of old  solid fuel  appliances.  This is attributed  to the  high  level  of 
national standards enforcing substitution of boilers as well as the expected positive impact arising 

67 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

from  the  implementation  of  a  carbon  tax  by  2030.  It  is  subsequently  argued  that  the  regional 
specific trends yield an additional 0.20% increase in the annual replacements while the impact of a 
carbon tax assumed to be implemented from 2030 onwards will provide a further 0.15% increase 
in the growth of annual sales rate towards 2040. 

Having  used  the  above  outlined  assumptions  to  model  the  future  market  demand  the  following 
aggregate addressable market for the projection period has been obtained, as seen in Figure 4.9. 

Figure 4.9 Projected accumulated addressable market from 2021 onwards in the Nordics 

Given  the  latter  assumptions  regarding  the  development  in  the  replacement  rate  of  solid  fuel 
household  heating  solutions,  it  is  projected  that  the  Nordic  region  will  have  had  replaced  and 
installed 3,061,212 new heaters total in the period 2021-2040. This will consequently correspond 
to  a  replacement  of  73.6%  of  the  currently  installed  stock  of  heaters  in  the  market.  It  is 
subsequently argued that the Nordic region due to its currently strong regulation and enforcement 
of emission standards as well as the expected introduction of a carbon tax will yield a comparatively 
sizeable future market demand for solid fuel space heaters.  

Western Europe future market demand  

As outlined in the regional specific trends the Western European region is predominantly a market 
with a limited use of solid fuel appliances, however, increasing regulations and utilization restrictions 
are impacting the marketplace. It is argued that tightening of regulations will provide an increased 
incentive to update the installed appliances in the market. Although this effect is argued to be net 
positive, the size of the impact is, however, comparatively small relative to that of an enactment of 
a carbon tax in the Nordics. Thus, it is assumed that the tightening of regulations in Western Europe 
will increase the annual addressable market by 0.1%. Furthermore, the historical growth pattern of 
the markets share of total household consumptions is expected to continue in addition to the effects 
of the tightening regulations. It argued that the annual impact on addressable market will be the 
same growth of 1.4% over 12 years.  

In  this  projection  we  know  that  some  of  the  larger  Western  European  heating  markets,  e.g. 
France109,  already  have  direct  carbon  taxes  in  place,  like  the  once  contemplated  in  the  Nordics. 
However, due to the fact that the legislation has been enforced prior to the sales data of the base 
year, it is argued that the effect of the carbon taxes has already been captured by our model by 
means  of  the  base  year  sales  data.  It  has  further  been  assumed  that  the  carbon-tax-rates  in 

109 https://www.climatescorecard.org/2020/03/the-dysfunctional-french-carbon-tax-is-frozen-at-2018-level/ 

68 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Western Europe will remain constant throughout the projection period, subsequently requiring no 
further adjustments to the market projections. 

Build on the latter mentioned assumptions the following projection for future market demand has 
been modelled.  

Figure 4.10 Projected accumulated addressable market from 2021 onwards in Western Europe 

From the latter market projection an accumulated replace of 16,213,918 units will have been 
achieved by 2040 corresponding to 74.5% of the currently installed stock of appliances.  

Eastern Europe future market demand  

While the Eastern European market for solid fuel appliances is substantially larger than any of the 
other  regions,  some  negative  development  for  the  size  of  the  addressable  market  is  currently 
expected  as  multiple  nationwide  (e.g.  Polish)  and  strong  incentive  schemes  are  currently  being 
faced out as identified in the state of affairs. This is argued to have net negative impact on the rate 
of substitution. It is currently argued that the rate of substitution will fall linearly towards an 55% 
level of the base  year in  2025. Furthermore,  the effects of urbanization  will  also  be  expected to 
yield a negative impact on the size of the addressable market. A lower bound estimate of the effect 
is based on EUROSTAT data110 argued to be an 8% reduction in the number of replaced unites of 
solid fuel heaters linearly towards 2040. It is argued the impact of urbanization will be smaller than 
the percentage change in urbanization of the region, as space heaters are installed on a per dwelling 
basis, and not per person. Therefore, a reduced population density in rural areas does not yield a 
linear fall in the number of dwellings as fewer tenants per building will be the result.  

When extrapolating the above assumptions, the following projections for the future market demand 
arises. 

110 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20210520-1 

69 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 4.11 Projected accumulated addressable market from 2021 onwards in Eastern Europe 

From the above projection for the future market demand the size of the Eastern European market 
is substantial in size compared to the other regions. However, the rate of replacement is currently 
projected  to  be  much  lower  as  a  mere  61.6%  of  the  currently  installed  stock  is  projected  to  be 
replaced by 2040. This is attributed mainly to the estimates regarding the termination of national 
incentive  schemes  promoting  substitution  of  old  units  with  new.  This  impact  can,  however,  be 
remedied by renewal of incentives or implementation of new structures. However, for the market 
as is, the projection above stands, given the outlined assumptions. 

Southern Europe future market demand  

As  the  Southern  European  market  has  a  comparatively  limited  market  penetration  of  solid  fuel 
appliances  it is argued that the currently installed  stock  is located in places  in which alternative 
forms  of  space  heating  is  either  technically  unfeasible  due  to  lack  of  distribution  or  financially 
uncompetitive. As a result, the total market size for solid fuel appliances is expected to remain very 
stable in this region, as substitute solutions are limited. Following from this line of reasoning it is 
argued that the main contributor to the development in future market demand are the universally 
applicable trends.  

Figure 4.12 Projected accumulated addressable market from 2021 onwards in Southern Europe 

70 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

As Figure 4.12 indicates, the development in the future market demand in Southern Europe is a 
linear  substitution  of  the  existing  stock  in  the  market.  With  the  currently  projected  replacement 
rate 73.2% of today’s stock will be replaced by 2040. 

The summary of the future market sizing is shown in Table 4.7. 

Table 4.7 Summary of future market sizes 

Market segment 
Nordics  
Western Europe  
Southern Europe 
Eastern Europe 

Addressable market 2021-2040 
3,061,212 units 
16,213,918 units 
11,368,545 units 
47,090,450 units 

% of stock replaced by 2040 
73.6% 
75.4% 
73.2% 
61.6% 

Given the future projected market sizes a further decomposition of the market can be initiated in 
order to understand the distribution between different appliances and fuel types. Firstly, as argued 
in the latter analysis two diverging developments in terms of the LSH/boiler split has been identified. 
The Western European market is set to experience a rather strong uptake in boilers given the use 
of solid fuel appliances. The same movement towards boilers is also expected in Eastern Europe, 
although  the  development  will  be  less  prevalent  due  to  conflicting  forces  in  the  market.  The 
Western- and Eastern European region is expected to increase their share of boilers due to political 
incentive schemes and structural market forces  as highlighted previously. The Western region is 
expected  the  strongest  movement  towards  boilers,  which  is  argued  to  be  a  60/40  LSH/boiler 
distribution  towards  2040.  Conversely,  the  Eastern  European  market  is  expected  a  smaller 
percentage change in the distribution. This is partially attributed to the already prevalent adoption 
of boiler. It is subsequently argued that the ratio will be 15/85 in the Eastern region.  

Opposite to this increased share of boilers, the Nordic region is expected to experience an increase 
in the use  of  local space heaters. This  is among  others due  to the intense  increase in the pellet 
stoves as the main biomass fuel source. However, the market shift is argued to be comparatively 
smaller than those described above, the Nordic region already has a strong market penetration of 
local space heaters, and subsequently has less market share to capture. Subsequently, it is argued 
that  the  Nordic  region  will  see  a  distribution  of  83/17  LSHs/boilers  towards  2040.  Lastly,  as 
described above the Southern European region is projected to keep it current distribution of 93/7, 
as solid fuel units are mainly used in geographical areas out of reach for competing fuel types, and 
that the currently adopted technology is the most feasible given the situation.  

Given the latter assumption for the development in LSH/boiler share towards 2040, breakdowns 
of the market are projected as presented in the Table below. 

Table 4.8 Breakdown of market share of LSH/boiler share in the regions 

Market 
segment 

Addressable market 2021-2040 

Nordics  

 3,061,212 units 

Western 
Europe  
Southern 
Europe 

16,213,918 units 

11,368,545 units 

Eastern Europe  47,090,450 units 

LSHs (83%) 
Boilers (17%) 
LSHs (60%) 
Boilers (40%) 
LSHs (93%) 
Boilers (7%) 
LSHs (15%) 
Boilers (85%) 

Projected number of 
units  
2,540,806 
520,406 
9,728,351 
6,485,567 
10,572,747 
795,798 
7,063,568 
40,026,883 

Lastly,  when  considering  the  development  in  the  usage  of  wood  pellets  as  fuel  for  local  space 
heaters, it is argued that the Nordics and Western Europe, will see a very high level of pellet usage 
for new purchases of local space heaters. This is argued to be the case as wood pellets offers a BAT 

71 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

solution given the purchase of a local space heater, as outlined in the technical analysis. However, 
as the Western European market for local space heaters s is expected to contract, it is predominantly 
the Nordic region that is expected to be the main driver for wood pellet uptake. Although it must 
be emphasised that the Southern European region represents a high potential for pellet usage, due 
to the high market penetration of biomass-fuelled local space heaters in the region. Subsequently, 
emphasising an uptake of wood pellets in the South would be an optimal way to reduce the emission 
arising  for  solid  fuel  appliances  in  the  region,  without  having  to  restructure  the  existing 
infrastructure in place.  

To sum up the following takeaways has arisen from the market sizing. Firstly, the Eastern European 
market represent a substantially larger market for solid fuel household heating solutions than the 
remaining  three  regions  combined.  Additionally,  the  Eastern  European  region  is  the  only  region 
currently  with  a  substantial  usage  of  coal  as  a  fuel  source  for  their  appliances.  The  region 
subsequently  provides  the  largest  opportunities  for  efficiency  gains  and  emission  reductions. 
Secondly, it is observed that the Eastern- and Western European market will be moving towards a 
relative  uptake  in  the  use  of  boilers  as  opposed  to  LSHs  while  the  opposite  is  the  case  for  the 
Nordics, and potentially for the South. As such the Union is diverging geographically in terms of 
which  types  of  BAT  technologies  are  demanded  in  the  market,  and  further  different  BNAT 
technologies will be able to effectively penetrate the market. Thirdly, a substantial uptake in the 
use of pellet stoves is expected. However, due to the substitution towards boilers, the aggregate 
effect for total wood pellet consumption is ambiguous.  

72 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

5.  ANALYSIS OF BARRIERS & OPPORTUNITIES 

5.1  Objective and method 

The aim of this analysis has been to identify possible policy and market incentives, that point to the 
most valuable concerted actions, which  will  facilitate  the  uptake of cleaner solid fuel local space 
heater  and  boiler  systems  in  households.  These  systems  are  referred  as  Solid  Fuel  Household 
Heating Solution (SF-HHS) in the subsequent chapters of this report. 

The  outcome of  this  analysis  is  a  list of  opportunities  to  overcome the  barriers  that  prevent the 
technological development and market uptake of BAT and BNAT, while considering incentives and 
ensuring a levelled market playing field. 

For each BAT and BNAT identified in chapter 3 of this report, we have carried out a SWOT analysis 
in a stepwise approach shown in the Table below and described in the next paragraph. 

Figure 5.1 Approach for SWOT analysis 

  Step 1: List Solid Fuel Household Heating Solutions’ (SF-HHS) technical capabilities, and 
their  economic  and  environmental  performance,  using  the  outcomes  from  the  technical 
assessment previously done. 

  Step  2:  Identify  strengths  and  weakness  arising  from  the  properties  of  the  individual 
technologies  and  doing  a  comparative  analysis  between  different  solutions,  specifically 
focusing on the emission reduction technologies since most of the potential reductions are 
triggered  by  these  technologies  rather  than  by  the  appliance.  This  analysis  reveals  how 
these technologies cope with the appliances and brings a more detailed overview. 

  Step 3: Identify strengths and weaknesses for each SF-HHS, and based on these identify 
opportunities,  barriers  and/or  threats  for  each  BAT  and  BNAT  solution  (i.e.  a  SWOT 
analysis). Opportunities and threats/barriers are related to their competitiveness and other 
external factors related to market, consumers and regional contexts. For BAT, we have put 
special focus on economic aspects, such as economies of scale in production or lower factor 
input costs of production, while for BNAT we have emphasized aspects related to feasibility 
and  technological  readiness,  keeping  air  pollution  aspects  at  the  centre  to  avoid  losing 
perspective. We have also considered policy and market incentives identified in the mapping 
of the state-of-affairs. 

  Step 4: Out of the SWOT analysis, identify what hinders a wide adoption of a technology 
(e.g. internal such as weakness, or external such as threat/barrier) – what challenges need 
to be overcome for a clean air technology to be more widely adopted? Furthermore, which 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

strengths need further development, and which opportunities need to be seized to counter 
the challenges identified? We  have drawn a  list  of  policy and market incentives that can 
overcome  the  weakness  and  threats  (and/or  barriers)  identified,  always  with  the  aim  to 
facilitate the market adoption of cleaner technology solutions.   

In the next sections we are presenting the outcomes this stepwise analysis. 

5.2  Step 1: BAT and BNAT technical capabilities and economic and environmental 

performance 

The screened BAT and BNAT are local space heaters, and boilers (<60 kW) that are connected to 
the central heating of the house but that also have an individual fuel intake. Subsequently, all solid 
fuel  household  heating  solutions  discussed  in  this  chapter  are  based  on  these  two  types  of 
appliances. Therefore, the summary of technical, economic and environmental characteristics for 
each screened technology are divided into local space heaters and boilers. Modern boilers and pellet 
stoves on the market are typically equipped with automatic fuel input. In the report manually stoked 
boilers were  also  screened if applicable  information was available. While there can  be  significant 
difference between the characteristics of the installed stock and the product available on the market, 
most available appliances on the market are automatically fed while the majority of the installed 
capacity is expected to be manually fed.  

Table 5.1, Table 5.2, Table 5.3 and Table 5.4 summarize these characteristics for batch combustion 
technologies and automatic combustion technologies. 

74 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 5.1 Summary of technical, environmental and economic aspects for batch combustion BATs 

75 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 5.2 Summary of technical, environmental and economic aspects for batch combustion BNATs 

76 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 5.3: Summary of technical, environmental and economic aspects for automatic combustion BATs 

77 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 5.4 Summary of technical, environmental and economic aspects for automatic combustion BNATs 

78 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

5.3  Step 2: Strengths and weaknesses of emission reduction technologies 

This analysis deep-dives into the individual emission reduction technologies that are included in the 
BAT and BNAT, focusing on their fit with the appliances. Due to the importance of these technologies 
on  achieving  the  reduction  potential  of  air  emissions,  it  is  essential  to  understand  more  of  their 
technical and environmental capabilities. 

Figure 5.2 shows the identified strengths and weaknesses of these technologies. 

Figure 5.2 Strengths and weaknesses of emission reduction technologies 

5.4  Step 3: Results from SWOT analysis for each BAT and BNAT 

Based on the previous analyses and information collected from the stakeholder feedback, the key 
results from the SWOT analysis for each solid fuel household heating solution BAT and BNAT are 
presented in Figure 5.3 to Figure 5-10. An important element to consider when going through these 
figures  is  the  attractiveness  of  retrofitting.  While  it  can  be  easier  to  upgrade  an  appliance  by 
retrofitting, it might not always be financially viable to do so, as in some instances buying a new 
appliance in the market may be cheaper. The cost competitiveness of these opportunities should 
therefore be kept in mind. 

79 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 5.3 Key results from SWOT analysis for BAT solution #1 (Slow heat release appliance + Air 
staging) 

Figure 5.4 Key results from SWOT analysis for BAT solution #2 (LSH + Automatic control) 

80 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 5.5 Key results from SWOT analysis for BAT solution #3 (LSH + ESP) 

Figure 5.6 Key results from SWOT analysis for BAT solution #4 (Pellet stoves) 

81 

 
  
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 5.7 Key results from SWOT analysis for BNAT solutions for batch combustion 

Figure 5.8 Key results from SWOT analysis for BAT solution #7 (Boiler + Advanced air staging) 

82 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 5.9 Key results from SWOT analysis for BAT solutions #8 and #9 (Boiler + ESP) 

Figure 5.10 Key results from SWOT analysis for BNAT solutions for automatic combustion 

5.4.1  Conclusions from SWOT analyses 

The main conclusions from the SWOT analyses are: 

1 

SLOW HEAT RELEASE APPLIANCE + AIR STAGING is an affordable solution suitable 
for medium- to low-income regions because it is available in the EU market and it is 
relatively simple, and it has an effective emissions reduction profile. Studies indicate 
the following reductions in CH4, CO, and particle emissions when adding air staging 
to  slow  heat  release  appliances:  74-91%,  26-81%,  and  14-58%  respectively111. 
However, it requires adequate financial solutions for a wider adoption in low-income 
regions  and  lifetime  will  be  shorter  due  to  obsolescence  because  it  cannot  be 
retrofitted.  

111 Nuutinen et al. 2014. Effect of air staging on fine particle, dust and gaseous emissions from masonry heaters. Biomass and 

Bioenergy 67, 167-178. 

83 

 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

2 

LSH  + AUTOMATIC CONTROL is a solution with strong performance in s terms of 
emissions and is thus also an effective solution compared to other BATs. However, 
current EU requirements allow for some more polluting solutions to remain attractive   
from  a  cost  perspective  as  they  are  allowed  to  keep  competing  in  the  market. 
Furthermore, the costs associated with this solution makes it less attractive for mass 
adoption especially  in regions with  lower household  incomes.  But if requirements 
are  reviewed  and  made  more  stringent,  some  cost  competitive  and  polluting 
products could be removed from the market. As a result, this solution will become 
more cost competitive among the remaining less polluting offerings. Moreover, the 
preference  for  heat  pumps  in  policy  instruments  in  higher-income  regions  may 
hinder  their  wider  adoption  to  the  extent  that  heating  solutions  become  more 
centralized  by  heat-pump  and  hybrid  solution  adoptions.  This  solution  could  be 
incentivised with policy and financial instruments to be an alternative to heat pumps 
where electricity prices are high and fuel poverty is a concern. The lifetime of the 
system may risk being shortened if retrofitting of updated automatic control systems 
is  not  designed  to  be  possible  or  cost  effective  compared  to  replacement  of  the 
entire  system.  It  is  important  to  approach  this  carefully  as  trade-offs  with  waste 
generation could be significant. 

3 

LSH  +  ESP  is  a  solution  affordable  for  medium  to  high-income  countries.  If  ESP  is 
retrofitted,  it opens  a  cost-effective  alternative  to  reduce  air  emissions  as  it  can  be 
used both in local space heaters and in boilers, especially in countries where particle 
emissions are a problem (i.e. some countries in Eastern- and Southern Europe). It is 
proven to be combustion efficient but there is currently no standardised test to make 
this  certain.  However,  it  does  not  reduce  other  than  particulate  emissions  and  it 
requires  disposal  of  the  collected  waste  (particulate  matter).  Moreover,  retrofitting 
costs are still significantly high. If these barriers are not hindered, this solution may 
never  be  taken  up  widely  in  medium-income  regions.  It  is  not  assessed  a  viable 
solution for low- and high-income regions. 

4 

PELLET  STOVES  are  a  great  solution  for  medium  and  the  upper  end  of  low-income 
countries. It is a comparatively  efficient appliance  due to its continuous combustion 
cycle. Meanwhile it remains cost competitive if not cheaper than solutions like LSH + 
ESP. It is subsequently argued that pellet stoves should be emphasized as a BAT with 
significant potential due to the combination of comparative affordability, low emissions, 
and high efficiency.  

5 

BOILER + ADVANCED AIR STAGING is a solution  predominantly affordable for high-
income countries which is cleaner and more efficient than LSH-based BAT solutions. 
The advanced air staging can also be  placed  on  local space heaters to upgrade and 
extend  lifetime.  Generally,  boiler  solutions  are  more  combustion  efficient  and  thus 
release  less  air  emissions  than  LSH  solutions,  and  they  are  preferred  by  policy 
instruments  in  low-income  regions  like  some  countries  of  Eastern  Europe.  If 
incentivised more widely, it could become an effective and viable option for medium-
income regions. 

6 

BOILERS + ESP is also a solution  that’s mainly affordable for high-income countries 
although if retrofitted it can also open a cost-effective solution. However, this boiler 
solution will never be at the same acquisition cost level as the  LSH solution because 
boilers are more expensive. It presents the same challenges with other air emissions 

84 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

than particulate matter and requirements for waste disposal. Because of the relatively 
high costs, compared to alternative solutions consumers have had a higher incentive 
to switch cheaper solutions like LSHs or electric appliances than they would otherwise 
have had. If these barriers are tackled, they can be an alternative for medium-income 
regions. Manually stoked boilers + ESP are not assessed to be a viable alternative as 
they are outdated technology. 

7 

BNAT  SOLUTIONS  FOR  BATCH  COMBUSTION  are  promising  in  terms  of  air  pollution 
reduction (LSH  + PCM heat exchanger) and  affordability and  retrofitting (LSH  + heat 
exchanger + ESP). However, retrofitting costs are potentially high, and they present too 
many  technical  and  economic  uncertainties.  They  are  therefore  considered  to  be  a 
possibility in the medium- and long-term, but even then, their potential for air emissions 
reduction  is  not  significantly  higher  than  other  BAT.  It  is  assessed  that  they  are  not 
viable solutions to pursue further. 

8 

BNAT  SOLUTIONS  FOR  AUTOMATIC  COMBUSTION  are  only  promising  in  terms  of 
combustion emissions but they have not shown evidence to reduce other air emissions 
when compared to average technologies.  Moreover, one of them comes in a complex 
set-up and the other requires additional waste disposal. It is assessed that they are not 
viable solutions to pursue further. 

Overall,  there  are  strengths  and  weaknesses  in  all  BAT  and  BNAT  solid  fuel  household  heating 
solutions that lead to opportunities and threats  / barriers for the uptake of these technologies in 
the EU market.  

However,  some  solutions  are  more  viable  than  others  (see  Figure  5-11),  and  it  is  deemed 
appropriate  to  focus  the  further  recommendations  on  the  6  BAT  solutions  shown  in  this  figure 
(excluding also manually stoked boiler solution). BNAT solutions are assessed potentially viable for 
medium-  and  long-term  considerations,  but  their  market  and  environmental  potentials  are  quite 
limited.  

As  it  is  shown  in  Figure  5-11,  some  solutions  have  higher  market  potential  in  specific  regions 
because of costs and consumer preferences or because of existing policy incentives that are most 
likely not going to be lifted anytime soon due to the regions’ political agenda.  

Figure 5-11 Overall assessment of BAT and BNAT based on SWOT analyses 

85 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

5.5  Summary of opportunities and barriers for the EU market uptake of BAT and 

BNAT 

Findings from the project group workshops pointed at a set of horizontal opportunities and barriers 
that are applicable to the adoption of most of the BAT and BNAT previously discussed. These are 
presented in Figure 5-12 and matched with the results of the SWOT analyses previously described.  

86 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 5.11 Overview of horizontal barriers and opportunities, matched against results from SWOT analyses, identifying a list of concrete actions 

87 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

6.  RECOMMENDATIONS, ACTION PLAN & TIMELINE 

6.1  Objective and method 

The aims of this chapter are: 

 

 

To present actionable recommendations for the European Commission and the stakeholders 
on  how  to  incentivise  the  adoption  of  cleaner  solid  fuel  household  heating  solutions, 
considering the objectives of the EU Clean Air Tech Hub. 
To  present  an  action  plan  with  recommendations  and  objectives,  roles,  responsibilities, 
enabling factors such as policy or market measures and a timeline. 

6.2  Actionable recommendations 

6.2.1  Methodology to develop recommendations 

There are a wide range of aspects that make recommendations to be successfully implemented. To 
minimise the risks of having non-actionable recommendations, these aspects should be assessed 
when developing the recommendations.  

Some aspects are more critical than others. Figure 6.1 shows an overview of these aspects and how 
they have been applied to evaluate the recommendations. 1st level shows those aspects that are 
essential for a recommendation to be relevant to  the Hub and the market. 2nd level shows those 
aspects  that  are  necessary  for  having  the  necessary  key  stakeholders  involved.  3rd  level  shows 
those  aspects  that  important  to  avoid  unlevelled  market  playing  field  and  trade-offs  with  other 
environmental impacts. 

  Objectives of the Clean Air Technology Hub: Recommendations should (i) incentivise 
the  deployment  of  clean  air  solutions  in  the  EU,  (ii)  facilitate  access  to  EU  and  national 
funding  like  research,  demonstration  and  roll-out,  (iii)  stimulate  cooperation  amongst 
stakeholders  in  particular  between  authorities  and  industry,  (iv)  facilitate  knowledge 
exchange,  and,  (v)  improve  dissemination  of  success  stories  including  job  creation  and 
growth while delivering on EU Green Deal objectives. 

  Market  dynamics  and  market  impact:  Recommendations  should  consider  market 
dynamics explained in chapter 4 and at the same time ensure that they do not dramatically 
alter the competitive forces in the marketplace to avoid risks of market failure because of 
a seriously unlevelled playing field. 

  Political  attractiveness:  The  degree  to  which  the  recommendation  will  gain  political 
support both at an EU level as well as at national level, when the recommendation is local 
or regional. 

  Technical maturity/feasibility: The technical readiness of the underlying solution that is 

targeted. This indicates the speed at which an impact on the market can occur.  

  Ease  of  implementation:  Time  and  resources  required  to  implement  recommended 
actions can reduce the effect of these actions and bring uncertainties. It is thus important 
to consider the amount of work and resources required to get the recommendation in place, 
and to consider how to mitigate the associated uncertainties.  

  Stakeholder value: This depends on two factors: “Impact type” and “Importance of impact 
type”  for  all  relevant  stakeholders.  Some  examples  of  Impact  type  are:  Price,  lower  air 
emissions, ease  of  use, competitiveness on  the  market, costs. The importance  of impact 
type is a measure of how important a given type of impact is to the stakeholder. As a result, 
the stakeholder value is a weighted sum of the impact of the recommendations to relevant 
stakeholders.  The  group  of  stakeholders  will  vary  depending  on  who  is  affected  by 
recommendation and where it is to be implemented. The workshops will, among others, be 

88 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

utilized  to  gather  information  from  stakeholders  regarding  their  concerns  about  the 
recommendations, how important different impact types are to them, and their perceived 
change in a given impact type as a result of the recommendation.  

  Environmental  impact:  The  projected  change  in  local  air  pollution  and  other  pollution 

affecting the local environment because of the recommendation 

  Climate impact: Projected aggregate impact on the carbon reductions and GHG emissions 

that contribute to climate change resulting from the recommendation.  

Figure 6.1 Overview of evaluation aspects considered to develop actionable recommendations 

6.2.2  Results 

Based  on  the  opportunities  identified  in  Figure  5-12  and  following  the  methodology  previously 
described, actionable recommendations have been developed and evaluated.  

The  results  of  the  evaluation  are  presented  in  Appendix  3,  which  were  used  to  select  the 
recommendations with  most impact  and to prioritise based  speed  of market impact  and  political 
attractiveness. Their easiness of implementation and alignment with Hub’s objectives were used to 
establish a timeline. In case of significant market disruptions presented by the recommendations, 
measures to prevent a significantly unlevelled playing field have been proposed. 

Based on these considerations, we have developed ten recommendations for short-, medium- and 
long-term  action.  Other  recommendations  were  assessed  not  relevant  for  the  Hub,  due  to  low 
impact and/or difficulty of implementation. Recommendations for short-, medium-, and long term 
are shown the tables below. 

89 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 6.1 Recommendations for short-term action  

90 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 6.2 Recommendations for medium-term actions 

91 

 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Table 6.3 Recommendations for long-term action 

92 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

6.3  Action plan and timeline 

The identification of stakeholder group responsible was done while developing the recommendations 
to ensure there was a clear leading group with actionable responsibilities for each recommendation. 
This was done by mapping each recommendation to the stakeholder groups that have registered at 
this Hub. Currently, the stakeholder representation is shown in Figure 6.2.  

Figure 6.2 Representation of stakeholder groups in September 2021 

Distribution of stakeholder per Stakeholder Group 

8

8

10

13

16

65

Industry

Research

Authority

NGO

Coalition, network,
partnership
Other

17

Investment organisation

Following  this  mapping,  we  identify  the  influence  each  stakeholder  group  has  for  each  of  the 
recommendations as shown in Figure 6.3. 

Recommendations have market impacts at different level. Some recommendations impact the whole 
EU where centralised decisions influence the whole market. Others impact also the whole EU, but 
the decisions are more localised at regional or local level and thus they require action leaders that 
take  regional  or  local  decisions  but  that  are  supported  by  the  European  Commission  to  ensure 
alignment.  So  far,  this  has  been  highlighted  by  stakeholders  as  one  of  the  biggest  barriers:  the 
fragmentation  of  requirements,  initiatives  and  standards  at  Member  State  level  that  create  an 
unlevelled market playing field. Therefore, by using the matrix shown in Figure 6.3, an appropriate 
responsible  stakeholder  was  identified  for  each  recommendation,  together  with  the  supporting 
stakeholder groups who are essential for the recommendation to become actionable. In some cases, 
the  European  Commission  or  Member  State  Authorities  have  been  identified  as  the  preferred 
stakeholders  for  implementation  due  to  their  geographical  scope  or  need  for  legislative 
implementation.  

Table 6.1, Table 6.2 and Table 6.3 show the action plan proposed. The content has been updated 
following the discussion at the 2nd workshop and alignment with DG ENV. Although the latter is the 
proposed initial action plan for the hub it is essential that stakeholders are involved and aligned in 
the making of the action plans for the future of the Hub.  

93 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 6.3 Stakeholder matrix identifying the influence for each recommendation 

The easiness of implementation of the recommendations and their alignment with Hub objectives 
were used to define the timeline as well as additional stakeholder feedback from the 2nd workshop. 
Table 6.1, Table 6.2 and Table 6.3 present the recommendations divided in short-term, medium-
term and long-term implementation. Due to the objectives of the Hub and the urgency to overcome 
these significant barriers it is paramount to initiate implementation of the recommendations as soon 
as  possible.  Since  the  recommendations  are  not  mutually  exclusive,  nor  dependent  upon  one 
another (except recommendation 7, as it requires recommendation 1 to conclude it to be feasible), 
it is possible to initiate the work with the long-term recommendations, while  realizing the short-
term wins of short-term recommendations. This is, however, constraint by the resources of the hub, 
long-term 
and  overall 
recommendations are subsequently understood to possible to implement within 1, 4, and 5+ years, 
respectively. Considering this period, we identify a timeline to start-up the recommendations (see 
Figure 6.4). 

level  of  engagement  by  stakeholders.  Short-,  medium-,  and 

Using these start-up periods for the recommendations, a timeline for implementation was developed 
(see Figure 6.5). 

This timeline is an initial proposal. It has been discussed with the stakeholders at the workshop, 
and while deemed slightly optimistic it should be seen in the light of need for  immediate action. 
This  draft  considers  the  urgency  of  implementation  their  inter-dependency,  their  ease  of 
implementation, the time it takes to observe the expected effect, and the current state of market 
dynamics.

94 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 6.4 Start-up timeline for the actionable recommendations 

95 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Figure 6.5 Implementation timeline for the actionable recommendations 

96 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

APPENDIX 1 – LIST OF PLATFORMS AND INITIATIVES 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

EU-
initiated 

EU  

Action 

Tempor
al 
Unbound  Co-design of 

# 

1 

Platform 
name 
European 
Battery 
Alliance 

2 

3 

European 
Clean 
Hydrogen 
Alliance 

European 
Circular 
Economy 
Stakeholder 
Platform 

EU-initiated platform providing 
research and innovation support 
to advanced (e.g. Lithium-ion) 
and disruptive (e.g. solid state) 
technologies; open ecosystem of 
more than 600 stakeholders, 
priority actions identified in a 
series of workshops and 
stakeholders can cooperate on 
these; business investment 
platform to accelerate 
transactions between investee 
and investor in the battery value 
chain. 
EU-initiated alliance open to all 
public and private actors with 
activities for renewable or low-
carbon hydrogen; will establish 
an investment agenda and 
support the scaling up of the 
hydrogen value chain across 
Europe; six roundtables operate 
in thematic working groups. 
EU-initiated cooperation platform 
to deliver on key areas of the EU 
Action Plan on the Circular 
Economy; exchange of know-how 
and best practices (knowledge 
hub), financing toolbox, education 
toolbox, referencing of networks 
and platforms; annual 
conference; platform steered by a 
coordination group.  

Business 
Investment plan 
with relevant 
stakeholders  
Shorten time to 
investment  
Reduce business 
risk for the 
investee 
Reduce 
investment risk 
for the investor 

Establishing an 
investment 
agenda in the 
hydrogen value 
chain 

EU-
initiated 

EU 

At least 
until 
2050 

EU 
commissi
on and 
European 
Economic 
and 
Social 
Committ
ee 

EU 

Unbound  Strengthening 

cooperation 
among 
stakeholder 
networks to 
facilitate the 
exchange of 
expertise, good 
practices, 
knowledge and 
lessons learnt in 
the circular 
economy 
Unbound  Mapping 

Screening  

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

Network, 
conferences 

Financing 
organisations 
Public institutions  
Industry partners  
+600 stakeholders 
involved 

Broad  stakeholder 
base 
the 
from 
start.  
Network format 
allows for lower 
participation 
constraint 

Industry 
National and local 
authorities 
NGO 

Meetings 
(roundtables) 
Workshops 

Joining alliance is 
required written 
commitment to 
the alliance's 
shared vision 

All stakeholders can 
engage with the 
platform and sign 
up 

A network of 
networks 

Annual 
conference 
Coordination 
group 

Public 

Limited 

Having a smaller 
scale working 
group meeting 
regularly and 
working upon the 
agendas at hand 
secures progress 
and manifests 
loose 
commitments 
from larger 
conferences 

Having an 
oversight body 

97 

4 

Industrial 
Emissions 

EU-financed project to scan 
promising new technologies to 

EU-
initiated 

EU 

 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 
Innovation 
Observatory 

5 

Business@Bi
odiversity 
(B@B) 
Platform 

6 

Fuel Cells 
and 
Hydrogen 
Joint 
Undertaking 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

Benchmarking 

EU 

Unbound  Development of 

tools to 
integrate 
biodiversity in 
business 
practices 

Public  
NGO 
Industry 
organizations 

Forums 

EU 

Unbound  Supporting 

research, 
technological 
development 
and 
demonstration 
activities in fuel 
cell technologies 

Public  
Industry  
Research institutes 

Public-Private-
Partnership 

abate industrial emissions; 
stimulate innovation and market 
for emerging techniques 
(specifically those in final stages 
of technique development) by 
providing a platform for technique 
developers to obtain 
substantiated recognition for their 
techniques. 
EU-initiated forum for dialogue 
and policy interface to discuss the 
links between business and 
biodiversity at EU level; 3 work 
streams: methods, pioneering 
and mainstreaming; e.g. 
pioneering workstream: facilitates 
dialogue and cooperation 
between pioneering financial 
institutions and businesses to 
gain deeper understanding from 
practice, and identify 
opportunities and solutions to 
scale up biodiversity 
considerations in corporate 
decision-making. 
EU-initiated public private 
partnership supporting research, 
technological development and 
demonstration (RTD) activities in 
fuel cell and hydrogen energy 
technologies, with the aim to 
accelerate the market 
introduction of these 
technologies; 2 pillars: transport 
and energy; support for market 
uptake incl. reducing the costs, 
producing educational tools and 
developing analytical methods 
and test procedures, and overall 
impact and dissemination of 
results. 

EU-
initiated 

EU-
initiated 

can be good. 
However, no to 
limited 
stakeholder 
engagement as 
adopted 

Involving industry 
organisations 
ensure a broad 
representation of 
stakeholder 
interests 

Having 
representation 
from  authorities, 
industry 
and 
research institutes 
the 
from 
(19 
beginning 
stakeholders) 

Teaming up with 
other EU 
initiatives e.g. 
Horizon 2020 to 
meet goals and 
deliver funding 

98 

 
Short description  

Type 

Level 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

EU-
initiated 

EU 

Action 

Tempor
al 
Unbound  Members sign a 
commitment to 
reduce plastic 
waste 

Public  
Industry 

Regular 
steering 
committee 
meetings  
Workshops 
Presentations 

Business-
network 

EU 

Unbound 

Increasing the 
level of bottle-
to-bottle 
recycling 

Industry 

Industry 
platform 

EU-
initiated 

EU 

Following 
impleme
ntation of 
Zero 
Pollution 
Action 
Plan  

Connecting 
actors from 
different 
communities 
Defining a 
common vision 
Developing 
good practices 
EU Green week 

Public 
Industry 

Stakeholder 
events 

FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

7 

Platform 
name 
Circular 
Plastic 
Alliance 

8 

Close the 
Glass Loop 

9 

Zero 
Pollution 
Stakeholder 
Platform 

EU initiated industrial alliance 
covering the full plastics value 
chains and includes 277 
organisations representing 
industry, academia and public 
authorities; 6 working groups, 
and 4 thematic coordination 
teams; 1-2 steering committee 
meetings per month; focus on 
design, collection & sorting, 
recycled content, R&D and 
investment and monitoring 
Industry action platform to unite 
the glass collection and recycling 
value chain, and establish a 
material stewardship programme 
that will result in more bottle-to-
bottle recycling; involves 13 EU 
associations, including glass 
manufacturers, processors, food 
& beverage producers, extended 
producer responsibility schemes 
and municipalities; development 
of EU and national action plans 

by 

Platform 
the 
launched 
European  Commission  and  the 
European  Committee  of 
the 
Regions to help implement the EU 
Action  Plan: 
“Towards  Zero 
Pollution  for  Air, Water  and  Soil”. 
The  Zero  Pollution  Stakeholder 
Platform  will  help  deliver  on  the 
flagship initiatives and actions set 
out  in  the  Zero  Pollution  Action 
Plan by: 

 

bringing  together  actors 
from 
different 
communities and areas of 
expertise  to  tackle  inter-

Defining clear 
visions, codes of 
conduct from the 
start allows for a 
contingent 
registration of 
members who are 
willing to commit 
the the latter 
ambitions 

An action plan has 
been developed, 
however, limited 
accountability and 
allocation of 
responsibility is 
outlined 

Coordinated 
synergetic effects 
with other EU 
programmes and 
initiatives 

99 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

related  challenges,  e.g. 
strengthening  a 
joint 
environment  and  health 
agenda; 
defining a common vision 
on  how  to  achieve  zero 
pollution objectives;  

 

developing and sharing good 
practices on cross-cutting topics 
such as financing for zero 
pollution innovation and jobs, 
boosting sustainable production 
and consumption, and creating 
thematic hubs like the Clean Air 
Tech Hub. 
Public-private partnerships with 
the aim of developing and 
implementing sustainable 
solutions for problems in society; 
board with public authorities from 
different levels, industry and 
NGOs which approves specific 
“green deals” on various topics; 
government responsible for 
facilitating, administering, 
creating contacts and alliances, 
addressing legislation aspects 
(incl. removing legal barriers) 
Initiative from Circular Flanders; 
learning/experimentation network 
during in a two-year project 
(2017-2019) where over 100 
organisations (e.g. business and 
local governments) committed to 
set up two circular purchasing 
projects with the help of over 50 
supporting organisations; buyers 
and facilitators met four times a 
year for inspiration sessions, 
sharing learnings, tools and 
measuring methods, finding 
solutions to challenges, 

10 

Dutch Green 
Deal 

11 

Green Deal 
Circular 
Purchasing 

Governm
ent 

NL 

Unbound 

Governm
ent 

BE 

Unbound 

Facilitating 
contacts across 
sector and 
institutional 
boundaries to 
improve 
collaboration on 
green ambitions 

Emphasising the 
transition 
towards a 
circular 
economy 
through 
partnerships 

Public 
Industry 
NGO 

Public-Private-
Partnership 
Alliances 

Public  
Industry  
NGO 

Regular 
steering group 
meetings 

Networking and 
conferences can 
help facilitate 
alliances and 
cooperation in a 
sector, 
subsequently 
fostering more 
innovation 

This initiative has 
been very 
methodical in 
analysing which 
levers it had 
available to 
achieve its goals. 
In doing so 
focusing its 
energy on the 
matters it can 
affect 

100 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

12 

Danish Clean 
Air Vision 

13 

Accelerate 
Estonia 
Vision 

discussing needs for new 
legislation; basic training was 
provided to organisations that 
needed capability initial buildings. 
Initiative from the Danish Ministry 
of Environment and Food; 
involves public authorities, Danish 
manufacturers of clean air 
technology and key industry 
organisations (academia or 
consumer NGOs do not 
participate); the government 
provides resources for arranging 
coordination and meeting 
arrangements but no direct 
funding and it provides a platform 
for coordination between 
authorities and industry, as well 
as help for promotion of Danish 
technology towards EU Member 
States and third countries. 
Government-backed platform 
partnering with entrepreneurs to 
solve wicked global problems by 
converting them into economic 
opportunities; based on practical 
experimentation at national scale 
with 9-month projects entailing 
proving the solution in a large-
scale pilot, initiating the 
regulatory changes and/or public 
sector processes needed and 
developing sustainable operating 
model in Estonia and a high 
growth scaling model 
internationally; each project gets 
direct access to relevant Estonian 
Government policy owners, a 
public sector champion for their 
project, an expert board of 
advisers from the Public, Private 
and Academic sectors and up to 
€90,000 funding.  

Governm
ent 

DK 

Unbound  Aggregating 

Governm
ent 

EE 

Multiple 
time 
limited 
projects 

news and 
actions plans 
regarding clean 
air visions and 
allowing for 
networking 
among industry 
players and 
coordinated 
export efforts 

Engagement in 
projects with 
industrial 
partners - 
leveraging start 
up urgency and 
power of the 
public sector 

Public 
Industry 
organisation 

Webinar  
Thematical 
meetings 

Few and irregular 
engagement 
activities reduces 
partner activity 

Public  
Private 

Project based 
engagement 

Solid awareness 
of the 
competences of 
the individual 
participants. 
Letting the best 
suited stakeholder 
handle the task 

101 

 
Short description  

Type 

Level 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

14 

Platform 
name 
Resource 
Efficiency of 
Nordrhein-
Westfalen 

15 

Inter-
platform 
Group of 
Circular 
Economy 

16 

Fabriques 
prospectives 

17 

Climate 
Leadership 

Initiative from the Effizienz-
Agentur NRW which facilitates 
exchange of knowledge and best 
practices on energy efficiency in 
products and processes in 
industry via regional network; 8 
regional offices and has carried 
out 3000 projects to date; 
consultation on resource 
efficiency, financing opportunities 
and events and training courses 
for companies. 
Group of 28 industry-led 
technological and innovation 
platforms, promoting the efficient 
use of resources through public-
private collaboration and R&D 
and innovation; involve all agents 
of the science-technology-
company system; various 
activities aimed at promoting the 
concept of circular economy, 
financing instruments for R&D 
and innovation in the circular 
economy, showing success stories 
and facilitating the search for 
partners among agents from 
different sectors and value 
chains. 
Nationally financed programs in 
which French regions can 
participate on a voluntary basis, 
where they get support for their 
ecological/industrial/resiliency 
transition; participation in a one-
year project resulting into a 
roadmap and action plan, 
involvement of local stakeholders 
(local governments, NGOs, 
residents, companies). 
Non-profit climate business 
network with 13 theme groups 
where members can network, 

Regional 
agency 

DE 
(local) 

Tempor
al 
Unbound 

Governm
ent 

ES 

Unbound 

Public  
Industry 

Focus groups 

Public  
Industry  
Research institutes 

Public-private-
partnership 

Provides grants 
and incentives 
for the adoption 
of energy 
efficient 
solutions  
Organisation 
and strategic 
development 

Facilitating 
public-private 
collaboration in 
research and 
innovation 
Umbrella 
platform for 28 
Spanish 
platforms 

Governm
ent 

FR 

One year 
per 
Fabrique
s 

Roadmap 
development 
Action programs 

Public  
Private  
NGO 

Project based 
engagement 

An independent 
advisory 
institution can 
serve as a place 
to seek guidance 
for practioneers. 
Additionally, it has 
been used to 
induce incentives 

Aggregating 
national platforms 
allows for a 
uniform voice on 
the international 
stage of circular 
economy 

Project based 
engagement 
allows for a close 
control with the 
allocation of 
funds, and an 
alignment with 
project objectives 

Business-
network 

FI 

Unbound  Knowledge 

sharing  

Private  
Research institutes 
Public 

Working 
groups 
Event days 

Deligating 
multiple large 
member base into 

102 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 
Coalition 
(CLC) 

18 

German 
Energy 
Solutions 
Initiative 

19 

Industrial 
Symbiosis 
platform 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

Methodology 
development  
Peer support 

Private (SMEs) 
Public 

Project based 
engagement 

Governm
ent 

DE 

Multi-
year 
support 
strategie
s for 
individual 
target 
regions  

Support for 
SMEs offering 
renewable 
energy 
solutions, smart 
grid tech and 
storage 
technologies.  
Facilitating 
ventures to 
markets abroad 

Governm
ent 

IT 

Unbound  Networking  

Awareness 
raising of 
circular 
economy 

Open for all willing 
participants  
Public 
Industry  
Research 

Network, 
conferences 

create ideas and new initiatives, 
learn and get peer support, 
participate in events, gain 
knowledge on latest climate 
research and international 
methodologies, participate in 
shaping climate policy. Each 
theme group has a facilitator 
(from the CLC’s organisation) 
who leads and coordinates the 
groups work. 
Imitative from Federal Ministry 
for Economic Affairs and Energy 
which supports small and 
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 
offering energy solutions in the 
fields of renewable energy, 
energy efficiency, smart grids and 
storage technologies to enter new 
markets abroad with the aim to 
increasingly spread German 
energy technologies worldwide; 
activities include matchmaking 
services abroad, consultancy on 
export and project financing in 
particularly difficult markets, 
support in the field of marketing, 
incl. participation at trade fairs 
abroad. 
Initiative from the Italian National 
Agency for New Technologies, 
Energy and Sustainable Economic 
Development (ENEA) which aims 
to create synergies and closing 
the loop between supply and 
demand for various resources; 
expert structure that identifies 
possible solutions of industrial 
symbiosis; complex information 
structure which describes the 
territory, its structures, the 
interlocutors and available 
resources; network that connects 

thematical 
working groups 
allows for efficient 
ressource 
contributions and 
agile 
developments of 
statements and 
proposals 

Project based 
collaboration 
allows for a very 
precise 
understanding 
and control of 
how financial 
support is 
distributed 

High importance 
of well-
coordinated 
functions when 
attempting to 
integrate 
stakeholders 
across sectors and 
interests 

103 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

20 

Green 
Energy 
Romania 
Innovative 
Biomass 
Cluster 

21 

BioReg 

different interlocutors; each 
company can receive an 
individual reports containing 
information on potential matches 
of interest; development of 
operating manuals for industrial 
symbiosis 
Green Energy Innovative Biomass 
Cluster has been founded in 2011 
with the aim to raise the interest 
towards the production and 
utilization of the solid biomass, 
the most important renewable 
energy source in Romania. The 
cluster ensures the frame to 
develop innovative solutions in 
the field of the solid biomass by 
putting emphasis on the 
environmental, social and 
economic benefits. 

BioReg project has received 
funding from the European 
Union’s Horizon 2020 research 
and innovation programme under 
grant agreement n° 727958. The 
project runs from January 2017 
to December 2019, it involves 8 
partners 

EU-
initiated 

RO 

Unbound 

EU-
initiated 

EU 

3 years 

Industry 
Research 
NGO 
Public 

Project based 
engagement 

Public 
Private 

Project based 
engagement 

Linking 
businesses, 
research and 
public 
administration 
to enhance 
cooperation on 
clean biomass 
uptake.  

Multiple 
synergetic 
programmes 
working with 
other EU 
Initiatives 
Demonstration 
case studies in 
7 European 
regions 

On the EU level: 
best practices in 
terms of 
strategies and 
technologies as 
well as 
implementing 
mechanisms will 
be shared 

On the regional 
level: the best 
practices will be 
replicated in the 
three 

Sector specific 
clusters are 
stronger if there is 
a broad 
stakeholder 
engagement from 
the industry in the 
initial faces 

Organizational 
setup can allow 
for parallel work 
and learning on 
different 
geographical 
levels. 
Subsequently 
enhancing 
aggregate value 
creation from the 
project 

104 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

beneficiary 
regions 
Funding 
development 
and innovation 
with climate 
mitigating 
technologies in 
Ireland 

Financial 
support for 
desired 
technologies  
Over 450,000 
homes in 
Ireland have 
already been 
upgraded with 
help from 
SEAI’s 
Government 
funded grants 
Policy 
Engaging with 
EU Commission 
regarding 
forest-based 
research and 
innovation 
Networking 

Public  
Private 

Project based 
engagement 

Limited potential 
for self-sustaining 
cooperation 
among industry 
participants when 
they are handled 
separately 

Public 

Limited 
interaction, 
only by means 
of incentive 
programmes 

Providing targeted 
financial 
incentives makes 
a difference for 
decision makers 

Industry  
Organisations 

Events 
Regular 
meetings 
Public-Private-
partnerships 

Coordinating 
across the sector 
for the entire 
union allows for 
better access to 
the Commission 
and other top tier 
bodies 

22 

Climate 
Action Fund 

Government  run  fund  since  2018 
– purely public 

Governm
ent 

IE 

Until 
2027 

The Climate Action Fund (CAF) 
was established to provide 
assistance and financial support 
to projects which will help Ireland 
achieve its climate and energy 
targets 
National Irish agency 
incentivising the uptake and 
transition towards cleaner 
technologies in households across 
the nation 

23 

Sustainable 
energy 
Ireland 

Governm
ent 

IE 

Unbound 

Business-
network 

EU 

Unbound 

24 

FTP 

25  Waterborne 
technology 
platform 

The Forest-based Sector 
Technology Platform (FTP) is a 
European Technology Platform 
(ETP) dedicated to the forest-
based sector. It is the meeting 
place for industry, forest owners 
and public authorities, to discuss 
and build up a critical mass of 
knowledge on common research 
and innovation needs for the 
sector, and to decide on the best 
ways to cooperate. 
WATERBORNE has been set up as 
an industry-oriented Technology 
Platform to establish a continuous 
dialogue between all waterborne 
stakeholders, such as 
classification societies, 
shipbuilders, shipowners, 

Business-
network 

EU 

Unbound  Continuous 

dialogue with 
stakeholders to 
ensure 
sustainable 
development of 

Industry 
Research 
NGO 
Public 

Project based 
engagement 

Initiatives that are 
industry lead 
generates a high 
degree of 
stakeholder 
engagement 

105 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

26 

EU 
Environment
al Innovation 
Partnerships 

27 

European 
Technology 
Platforms 

blue sector 
across Europe 

EU 

Unbound  Coordinate 

maritime equipment 
manufacturers, infrastructure and 
service providers, universities or 
research institutes, and with the 
EU Institutions, including Member 
States. 
EIPs are partnerships that bring 
together relevant parties at EU, 
national and regional levels to 
streamline, simplify and better 
coordinate existing financial 
instruments and initiatives. Focus 
on challenges that can benefit 
society and modernise sectors 
and markets. 

EU-
Initiated 

EU-
Initiated 

EU 

Unbound 

ETP's were set up to chart the 
strategic R&D path for key 
European Industries. They focus 
on strategic fields such as food, 
biotechnology, chemicals and 
nanotechnology. They bring 
together stakeholders to define 
medium- to long-term research 
and technological development 
objectives, they also lay down 
markers to achieve these. ETPs 
were part of Horizon 2020 which 
ran from 2013 to 2020. 

28 

European 
Technology 

In 2016 six European Industrial 
Initiatives were merged with 

EU-
Initiated 

EU 

Unbound 

investments in 
demonstrations 
and pilots. 
Foresee and fast 
track necessary 
regulation and 
standards. 
Organise public 
procurement so 
breakthroughs 
are quickly 
brought to 
market. 
The platforms 
follow a three-
stage process. 1 
- stakeholders 
formulate a 
common vision. 
2 - define a 
Strategic 
Research 
Agenda (SRA) 
setting out 
medium- to 
long-term 
objectives. 3 - 
implement the 
SRA by enabling 
the mobilisation 
of the human, 
financial and 
technological 
resources. 
Provide 
consensus-

Industry 
Public/Private 

Importance of 
governance 
structures 

Industry-led 

Strategy and 
vision setting. 
Implementatio
n of strategy. 

Industry led 
initiatives garner 
greater 
stakeholder 
engagement 

Industry-led 

Providing 
strategic 

Broad stakeholder 
bases are crucial 

106 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

# 

Platform 
name 
and 
Innovation 
Platforms 
(ETIPs) 

Short description  

Type 

Level 

Tempor
al 

Action 

Participants 

Involvement   Lesson learned  

eight European Technology 
Platforms to form nine ETIPs. 
These were established as 
communities that would develop 
and implement the Strategic 
Energy Technology Plan (SET 
Plan). The aim to foster 
innovation, bring new 
technologies to the market and 
provide consensus based 
strategic advice on the SET Plan. 

based strategic 
advice by 
covering both 
technical and 
non-technical 
aspects. 

advice, 
expertise, and 
continual 
knowledge 
transfer. 

to have to 
accurately reflect 
the stakeholders 
involved in the 
challenges being 
addressed. 

107 

 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

APPENDIX 2 – ASSESSMENT OF BRUTTO LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS 

Proposed 
recommendation 

Align-
ment 
with 
Hub’s 
objecti-
ves 

Market 
impact 
(EU, SE, 
WE, EE, 
NO) 

Align-
ment 
with 
market 
trends 

Disrup-
tion to 
competiti
ve forces 
on the 
market 

Speed of 
market 
impact 

Ease of 
imple-
menta-
tion 

Political 
attract-
tiveness 
(EU, 
regional, 
local) 

Type of impact 
** 

Impor-
tance 
of 
impact  

Projec-
ted 
change 
on local 
air pollu-
tion 

Trade-
off with 
climate 
impacts 

Trade-off 
with 
other 
environm
ental 
impacts 

Type of 
stake-
holder 
impac-
ted by 
reco-
mmen-
dation* 

Review Ecodesign 
requirements before 
2024, aligned with 
current BAT and 
including the effect of 
emission reduction 
technologies 

Integrate presented 
BAT levels and the 
effect of emission 
reduction technologies 
in review of Energy 
Labelling Regulation 
and time it before 
2024 

Align legislations and 
voluntary agreements 
relevant to BAT at 
Member State level 
(see Table 2.2 and 
Table 2.3) with the 
aim of alignment  

Align Member States 
measures for BAT with 
initiatives at EU level 
(see Table 2.1) 

Accelerate the 
development of CEN 

Limited 

EU 

High 

Low 

Fast 

EU 

Difficult 

Authorities   Price 

High 

High 

Moderate  Moderate 

Lower air 
emissions 
Competitiveness 
on the market 
Costs 

Limited 

EU 

High 

Low 

Very fast 

EU 

Medium 

Authorities   Price 

Lower air 
emissions 
Ease of use 
Competitiveness 
on the market 
Costs 

Very 
high 

High  

Moderate  Moderate 

Medium 

EU 

High 

Medium 

Medium 

Medium 

EU 

Medium 

Medium 

Medium 

EU and 
local 

EU and 
local 

Difficult 

Authorities   Price 

High 

Medium 

Moderate  Moderate 

Lower air 
emissions 
Competitiveness 
on the market 

Difficult 

Authorities   Price 

High 

Medium 

Moderate  Moderate 

Limited 

EU 

Low 

Medium 

Medium 

Regional 

Difficult 

Industry 

Lower air 
emissions 
Competitiveness 
on the market 

Price 
Lower air 
emissions 

Medium 

Medium 

Moderate  Moderate 

108 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Proposed 
recommendation 

Align-
ment 
with 
Hub’s 
objecti-
ves 

Market 
impact 
(EU, SE, 
WE, EE, 
NO) 

Align-
ment 
with 
market 
trends 

Disrup-
tion to 
competiti
ve forces 
on the 
market 

Speed of 
market 
impact 

Ease of 
imple-
menta-
tion 

Political 
attract-
tiveness 
(EU, 
regional, 
local) 

Type of impact 
** 

Impor-
tance 
of 
impact  

Projec-
ted 
change 
on local 
air pollu-
tion 

Trade-
off with 
climate 
impacts 

Trade-off 
with 
other 
environm
ental 
impacts 

Type of 
stake-
holder 
impac-
ted by 
reco-
mmen-
dation* 

test for wood-fuelled 
LSH emissions 

Harmonise Member 
State test standards 
for appliances  

Develop a EU 
framework for fuel 
quality standards 

Set-up a EU 
framework for 
financial mechanisms 
to incentivise 
retrofitting and 
replacement of BAT 
(emission reduction 
technologies and 
entire solutions) – use 
lessons learned from 
existing mechanisms 
(see Table 2.4)  

Set-up regional 
awareness campaigns 
of the environmental 
impacts from 
consumer decisions 
tackling 3 aspects: (1) 
Use of correct fuel, (2) 
purchase of right 
solution and not only 
right appliance, (3) 

Medium 

EU 

Low 

Medium 

Medium 

EU 

Difficult 

Limited 

EU 

Low 

Low 

Fast 

Regional 

Easy 

High 

High 

EU  
WE 
NO 
SE 
EE  

WE 
NO 
SE 
EE 

High 

High 

Fast 

EU and 
local 

Medium 

High 

Medium 

Medium 

Regional 
and local 

Easy 

Research 
organisati
ons 

Authorities  
Industry 
Research 
organisati
ons 

Competitiveness 
on the market 
Costs 

Price 
Lower air 
emissions 
Competitiveness 
on the market 

Lower air 
emissions 

Price 
Lower air 
emissions 
Competitiveness 
on the market 
Costs 

Industry 
Research 
organisati
ons 

Industry 
Authorities 
Coalitions/
networks/
partnershi
ps 
Investmen
t 
organisati
ons 

Authorities 
NGOs 
Coalitions/
networks/
partnershi
ps 

High 

Medium 

Moderate  Moderate 

Medium 

Medium 

Low 

Low 

High 

High 

Moderate  Moderate 

Lower air 
emissions 
Ease of use 

Medium 

Medium 

Low 

Low 

109 

 
 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Proposed 
recommendation 

Align-
ment 
with 
Hub’s 
objecti-
ves 

Market 
impact 
(EU, SE, 
WE, EE, 
NO) 

Align-
ment 
with 
market 
trends 

Disrup-
tion to 
competiti
ve forces 
on the 
market 

Speed of 
market 
impact 

Ease of 
imple-
menta-
tion 

Political 
attract-
tiveness 
(EU, 
regional, 
local) 

Type of impact 
** 

Impor-
tance 
of 
impact  

Projec-
ted 
change 
on local 
air pollu-
tion 

Trade-
off with 
climate 
impacts 

Trade-off 
with 
other 
environm
ental 
impacts 

Type of 
stake-
holder 
impac-
ted by 
reco-
mmen-
dation* 

retrofitting  (use 
lessons-learned from 
existing campaigns, 
see Table 2.5) 

Establish financial 
programmes for 
funding more R&D on 
automated BAT 
solutions 

Set-up medium-term 
regional awareness 
campaigns for 
professionals on the 
most appropriate way 
to install and service 
the solutions to reduce 
air pollution and other 
environmental impacts 
(use lessons-learned 
from existing 
campaigns, see Table 
2.5) 

Create a centralised 
R&D initiative at EU 
level aiming at the 
optimised integration 
of emission reduction 
technologies with 
appliances focusing on 
BAT 

Investigation of 
different financial 

High 

SE 
EE 

Medium 

Medium 

Slow 

Regional 

Medium 

Medium 

SE 
EE 

Medium 

Medium 

Medium 

Regional 
and local 

Easy 

Medium 

Medium 

Low 

Low 

Medium 

Low 

Low 

Low 

Price 
Lower air 
emissions 
Ease of use 
Competitiveness 
on the market 
Costs 

Lower air 
emissions 
Ease of use 
Costs 

Industry 
Authorities 
Investmen
t 
organisati
ons 

Industry 
Authorities 
Coalitions/
networks/
partnershi
ps 

High 

EU 

High 

High 

Medium 

EU and 
regional 

Medium 

High 

Medium 

Significa
nt 

Significant 

Industry 
Research 
organisati
ons 
Authorities 

Price 
Lower air 
emissions 
Competitiveness 
on the market 
Costs 

High 

EU 

High 

High 

Medium 

EU and 
regional 

Medium 

Industry 
Authorities 

Price 

High 

Medium 

Low 

Low 

110 

 
FINAL REPORT - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Proposed 
recommendation 

Align-
ment 
with 
Hub’s 
objecti-
ves 

Market 
impact 
(EU, SE, 
WE, EE, 
NO) 

Align-
ment 
with 
market 
trends 

Disrup-
tion to 
competiti
ve forces 
on the 
market 

Speed of 
market 
impact 

Ease of 
imple-
menta-
tion 

Political 
attract-
tiveness 
(EU, 
regional, 
local) 

Type of impact 
** 

Impor-
tance 
of 
impact  

Projec-
ted 
change 
on local 
air pollu-
tion 

Trade-
off with 
climate 
impacts 

Trade-off 
with 
other 
environm
ental 
impacts 

Type of 
stake-
holder 
impac-
ted by 
reco-
mmen-
dation* 

mechanisms for a 
centralised R&D fund 
on integrated BAT 
solutions (e.g. EU-
funds, regional and 
national funds, 
European Investment 
Bank, Industry) 

EU = European Union; SE = Southern Europe; WE = Western Europe; EE = Eastern Europe; NO = Nordics 
*=Industry, Research organisations, Authorities, NGO, Coalitions/networks/partnerships, Investment organisations 

**= Price, lower air emissions, ease of use, competitiveness on the market, costs 

Investmen
t 
organisati
ons 

Lower air 
emissions 
Competitiveness 
on the market 

111 

 
 
Reference 
Request for services in the context of  
Framework Service Contract EEA/ACC/18/001/LOT2 

k0thx 

Date 
September 2022 

EU CLEAN AIR TECHNOLOGY HUB 
EVALUATION REPORT 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EU CLEAN AIR TECHNOLOGY HUB 
EVALUATION REPORT 

Ramboll Head Office 
Hannemanns Allé 53 
DK-2300 Copenhagen S 
Denmark 

T +45 5161 1000 
F +45 5161 1001 
www.ramboll.com 

Rambøll Management 

Consulting A/S 

DK reg.no. 60997918 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
            
 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

CONTENTS 

1. 
2. 
2.1 
2.2 
2.3 
2.4 

Introduction 
Assessment 

Methodology 
Stakeholder roster 
Process and stakeholder involvement 
Relevance of final report 

 – Survey results 

1 
2 
2 
5 
5 
7 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

This report is an annex to the Final Clean Air Tech Report and contains the evaluation part of the 
final project report of the project “Support to Member States regarding the development of an EU 
Clean Air Technology Hub – Pilot Project”.  

It contains an assessment of the strength and shortcomings of different aspects of the project, and 
provides recommendations based on those assessments. 

These assessments are based on the team’s experience from implementing the project on the one 
hand,  and  on  the  other  hand  feedback  collected  through  a  survey  with  stakeholders  which  was 
distributed after the last stakeholder meeting was held. The full results of that survey are attached 
in  Appendix  1  to  this  report.  The  relevant  results  are  included  and  discussed  in  the  respective 
relevant assessments and recommendations. 

It should be mentioned that separate recommendations on the establishment and governance of 
the hub itself are in section of the main report. 

1 

 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

2.  ASSESSMENT 

2.1  Methodology 

The methodology of the project included the following consecutive steps which are summarised in 
the Figure below. 

Figure 2.1 Summary of methodology 

Assess regulatory landscape

Map state-of 
affairs from 
regulatory and 
market 
perspectives

Map similar 
platforms and 
initiatives

Assess technology landscape

Assess current and future market demand and 
trends

Assess barriers and opportunities 
for uptake of BAT technologies

Develop actionable 
recommendations and timeline

Assess size of 
current market

Assess trends 
and drivers

Assess future 
market demand

Identify and 
structure 
existing 
technology 
groups

Screen 
technology 
groups

Conclude of 
BAT and BNAT

Those main steps are also each broken down into sub steps which are explained in more detail in 
the main Final Clean Air Tech Report; the most relevant ones are also included in the Figure above. 
It should be noted that those steps do not follow 1:1 those in the original terms of reference (TOR) 
of  this  project  but  have  developed  organically  throughout  the  project  through  close  cooperation 
with the EC. 

Findings and recommendations for each of the main steps are presented below. 

2.1.1  Step “Assess regulatory landscape” 

Finding 

Recommendation 

Map state-of affairs from regulatory and market 
perspectives: The assessment has been helpful for 
getting  an  overview  of 
initiatives  at  EU  and 
national/regional levels. 

for 

identifying  potential  speakers 

However,  the  information  could  only  be  used  to  a 
limited  extend  in  the  remainder  of  the  report, 
including 
for 
workshops  and  background  understanding  for  the 
development  of  recommendations  for  a  hub.  Thus, 
within the project, potentially too many resources had 
to be used for this step considering the limited further 
use. 

The EC could reconsider this step and if they agree 
with the finding, potentially scope it in more detail in 
future TOR (e.g., maximum number of initiatives to 
be  identified) or  state  more  clearly  the  further  use 
the mapping so that it can be more targeted. 

However, it is possible that the mapping has merit 
for the EC beyond the project itself (e.g., for other 
policy  processes)  in  which  case  the  step  could  be 
maintained as is. 

Map state-of affairs from regulatory and market 
perspectives:  The  step  also  took  a  lot  of  the 
attention  of  the  stakeholders  and  many  comments 

The above recommendation also applies here. 

In addition, it could be considered to take additional 
steps  in  future projects  to  redirect  the  attention of 

2 

 
 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Finding 

Recommendation 

stakeholders  away  from  this  overview,  e.g.,  by 
having it as separate deliverable of the project which 
only gets shared once with stakeholders. 

The first recommendation also applies here. 

In  addition,  the  EC  could  consider  refocusing  the 
assessment more on replicability of initiatives if this 
is considered to be a valid contribution to the project 
by the EC. 

To operationalise  this,  the  following steps  could be 
taken: 

  Select  a  limited  number  of  existing  initiatives 
which  seem  to  have  largest  potential  for 
replicability (based on predefined indicators) 
  Assess those initiatives in more detail through a 
structured assessment (e.g. by assessing socio-
economic context, problems, theory of change, 
success factors, etc) 

  Assess conditions for replicability 

Based  on  this,  the  findings  could  play  a  more 
prominent role in the remainder of the project, incl. 
for  formulating  more  detailed  recommendations.  It 
should  be  noted  that  such  an  assessment  requires 
additional resources. 

Do not repeat this assessment in future projects. 

received focused  on  adding further  national/regional 
initiatives to the list. This was the case despite efforts 
of  the project  team  to clarify  that  adding  to  this  list 
should  have  low  priority  compared  to  other  parts  of 
the tender. 

Map state-of affairs from regulatory and market 
perspectives: It should also be noted in this context 
that  there  seems  to be  limited potential  for  national 
and  regional  initiatives  to  be  reproduced  and  scaled 
for other EU regions or even at EU level since the local 
problem-, market-, and socio-economic context plays 
a large role in how such initiatives are shaped in detail 
(see also findings in section 2.4). 

Map  similar  platforms  and  initiatives:  It  is 
assumed  that  this  assessment  was  only  part  of  the 
pilot  project  and  would  not  be  repeated  in  further 
projects. As a one-off, it is considered by the project 
team  to  provide  valuable  information  on  potential 
governance structure of the hub. However, it should 
be  noted  that  the  information  was  not  carried  over 
into the overall project recommendations since those 
should not include recommendations on the hub itself. 

2.1.2  Step “Assess technology landscape” 

Finding 

Recommendation 

Identify  and  structure  existing  technology 
groups: This was a crucial step since it allowed for 
a  structured  discussion  with  stakeholders  as  well 
provided  a  structure  for  the  report.  It  might  have 
less  priority  in  other,  less  complex,  technology 
fields, but nevertheless should always be important 
for providing structure. The large variety of different 
technologies and the country/area specific needs in 
technologies  and  improvements  made  covering  of 
all  member  states  complicated.  It  should  be 
understood 
thorough 
assessment cannot cover all technologies. 

that  even 

the  most 

in  potential 

Given  the  importance,  this  sub  step  could  be 
specifically  mentioned 
future  TOR. 
Defining/limiting  the  number  of  technologies  taken 
into  consideration  could  help  in  focusing  of  the 
assessment  both  from  the  view  of  the  project  team 
and stakeholders. 

3 

 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

2.1.3  Step “Assess current and future market demand and trends 

Finding 

Recommendation 

Given  the  importance,  this  sub  step  could  be 
specifically mentioned in potential future TOR. 

Structuring the assessment by EU regions proved to 
be  a  crucial  success  factor  for  meaningful  findings 
which  reflect  the  different  regional  situations, 
drivers  and  obstacles,  and  trends.  It  should  be 
reflected that few individual stakeholders, find that 
the  grouping  “oversimplifies”  the  heterogeneous 
nature  of 
individual  member  states  and  the 
complexities within each national market. However, 
the  project  team  finds  that  valid  common  trends 
across  EU  regions  have  been  found  and  provide 
great  insight  in  to  how  the  market  is  developing 
across EU regions.   

However, even though the assessment in EU regions 
proved to be helpful, it still has its limits since even 
within  EU  regions  there  are  stark  differences 
between  different  countries  and  even  within  the 
countries. Capturing those would be needed for fully 
operationalising 
project 
recommendations, such as information campaigns. 

some 

the 

of 

Based  on  this,  it  is  recommended  to  make  a  more 
detailed assessment part of the actual hub and involve 
the different stakeholders in it, coordinated by the hub 
(already  part  of  project  recommendations).  The 
structure,  approach  and  findings  from  the  regional 
assessment in the Final Clean Air Tech Report is a very 
strong starting point for this. 

That  being  said,  a  full  assessment  at  that  level 
would  require  substantially  more resources for  the 
project  and  probably  change  the  whole  nature  of 
following projects.  

2.1.4  Step “Assess barriers and opportunities for uptake of BAT technologies” 

Finding 

Recommendation 

Price/affordability  has  been  identified  as  one  of  the 
key barriers in the project, at least in some regions. 
It  is  very  likely  that  this  also  applies  to  other 
technology  groups  covered 
future 
projects.  

in  potential 

If the EC agrees that this barrier is very likely to also 
persist  in  other  technology  fields,  an  additional 
subtask could be added  in potential future projects 
to  already  go  one  step  further  with  regard  to  this 
barrier. This additional subtask could: 

 

 

Identify  regions  with  highest  affordability 
constraints 
Identify “archetype households” which face 
those constraints 

  Define more detailed recommendations on 
how  the  affordability  constraints  in  those 
archetype households could be tackled 

2.1.5  Step “Develop actionable recommendations and timeline” 

Finding 

Recommendation 

Recommendations could be developed based on the 
prior  tasks  which  led  logically  to  this  one.  As 
mentioned  earlier,  only  the  relevance  of  the 
assessment  of  the  regulatory  landscape  could 
potentially be improved. 

/ 

Expectations from many stakeholders were that the 
EC and Member States (MS) should be in charge for 
the majority of the actions and future work, despite 
reported  efforts  of  the  project  team  to  steer 

In potential future iterations of the contract, it could 
be tried to put even more emphasis on the expectation 
of stakeholders getting involved in the implementation 
of actions. This could potentially be achieved by first 

4 

 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Finding 

Recommendation 

discussions towards what the stakeholders could do 
to implement actions. 

focusing  purely  on  recommendations  which  could  be 
actioned  by  stakeholders  and  then  in  a  second  step 
asses  how  EU  and  MS  activities  could  contribute  to 
those activities. 

2.2  Stakeholder roster 

The stakeholder  roster was developed in  the  beginning of the project; the roster was agreed on 
between the EC and the project team with a perception that overall, the roster is fit for purpose. 
Those, the findings and recommendations below are mainly based on survey results. 

Finding 

Recommendation 

Most stakeholders who participated in the survey (see 
survey results) agreed that more stakeholders should 
have been involved in the process. 

While the project team agrees that this has merits, it 
should  also  be  mentioned  that  a  larger  stakeholder 
roster  would  likely  change  the  nature  of  the 
stakeholder  workshops  to  some  extent  and  would 
require some changes to ensure that everybody who 
wants can speak up. 

Stakeholder  opinions  (see  survey  results)  on  the 
perception 
if  geographical  distribution  and 
distribution  between  different  stakeholder  groups 
was sufficient differ, however, with a trend towards 
more  disagreement.  One  comment  notes,  that 
industry involvement in the process was insufficient. 

Consider  involving  more  stakeholders  in  potential 
future projects. 

industry 

On 
see 
findings/recommendations in the next section below. 

involvement 

please 

Efforts  have  been made when  setting  up  the  rooster 
to  take  into  account  geographical  and  distribution 
between different stakeholder groups. It is unclear to 
what extent this effort has to be increased since it can 
be  expected  that  no  perfect  distribution  could  be 
reached  and  some  stakeholders  would  still  have  the 
impression of being underrepresented. 

2.3  Process and stakeholder involvement 

Overall,  the  process  and  stakeholder  and  considered  positive  by  the  project  team.  Generally, 
stakeholders showed interest in the project and throughout the process interest could be maintained 
and only very few stakeholders did not follow through the process. Also, the process, consisting of 
several  iterations  of  the  report,  followed  by  stakeholder  events  and  calls  for  comments  was  in 
general found relevant. 

However, some suggested improvements to the process and stakeholder involvement are discussed 
in the Table below. 

Finding 

Recommendation 

As  per  TOR,  the  original  plan  was  to  organise  all 
stakeholder  meetings  in  Brussels;  however,  do  to 
covid they were organised online instead.  

Taking the pros and cons into account, the EC should 
revaluate for  potential future projects if  in-person or 
online meetings are the best choice. 

This proved to be an effective way of organising the 
events, also allowing for good interaction. While not 
verifiable,  it  can  be  assumed  that  this  also 
contributed  to  high  participation  throughout  the 
process since the barrier for joining online meetings 
is  much  lower  than  for  in-person  meetings  (which 

5 

 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Finding 

Recommendation 

involve  travel  expenses  and  require  more  time.  It 
probably also contributed to a balanced participation 
between stakeholder groups, since usually industry 
can stem such expenses more easily than e.g. NGOs 
or national/regional/local authorities. 

On the other hand, in-person meetings could have 
led to even more interaction between stakeholders 
and could have contributed more effectively to the 
expected organisational outcome of this project, i.e. 
the 
strengthening 
producers  of  various  elements  of  a  clean  air  tech 
area. 

cooperation  between 

the 

sufficiently 

Stakeholders seem to overall agree that they have 
the 
involved 
been 
development of the report (see survey results); this 
is also the impression of the project team, that the 
involvement  of  the  stakeholders  through  the 
iterative process was fit for purpose. 

throughout 

The  survey  results  suggest  an  overall  perception 
that the periods between the project meetings were 
in  general  good  and  that  they  should  neither  be 
longer nor shorter. 

During stakeholder meetings, a good balance must 
be struck between presentations (from project team 
or  external)  and  discussions.  Also,  it  should  be 
acknowledged  that  a  too  dense  agenda with  many 
short presentations and agenda points tends to lead 
to delays and that especially for discussion sessions 
usually long blocks need to be planned. 

While  not  foreseen  in  the  TOR,  a  final  round  of 
revised 
comments  by  stakeholders  on 
recommendations proved to be helpful. 

the 

active 

differed 

participation 

The 
between 
stakeholder groups;  it  was  especially  perceived by 
the  project  team  that  industry  (manufacturers  of 
stoves, boilers and emission reduction technologies) 
was rather passive while the Hub needs this sector 
to take leadership. 

Also, NGOs were more active during the beginning 
of the project than towards the end. This, however, 
can  be  explained  by  them  not  agreeing  with  the 
overall premise of the project. 

There  seems  to  be  a  mixed  perception  of 
stakeholders on if their voice was sufficiently heard 
during the development of the report, with approx. 
half  of  the  respondents  agreeing  and  another  half 
disagreeing. 

/ 

/ 

It  can  be  argued  that  during  the  stakeholder  events 
more focus should be put on discussions compared to 
outside  presentations.  While  those  presentations  are 
interesting and can give food for thought, they do not 
inherently  contribute  to  improving  the  report  and 
alignment  of  stakeholders  which  should  be  better 
achievable  through  discussions.  Thus,  in  potential 
future  projects,  the  EC  could  consider  putting  more 
focus  on 
interaction  and  discussion  between 
stakeholders than has been the case so far. 

Potential  future  projects  should  incorporate  such  an 
additional round of comments. 

It should be tried to improve participation of industry. 
However,  this  is  a  challenging  undertaking  since 
industry  is  often  careful  when  it  comes  to  their  core 
business. Also, in this specific case the sector is very 
fragmented  as  the  analysis  has  shown  which  could 
have contributed to them not feeling comfortable for 
speaking up. 

Regarding  NGOs,  better  communication  could  be 
attempted at the outset of projects to try to onboard 
them to the overall idea of the project; however, this 
is likely very challenging. 

While some disagreement on the wording of a report 
is expected among a group of this size and with such 
different backgrounds, one could consider including an 
annex  allowing  each  stakeholder  to  qualify  their 
stance  relative  to  the  final  text.  This  could  allow  for 
more  stakeholders  to  feel  like  that  have  had  the 
change  to  be  heard,  while  their  opinion  may  not  be 

6 

 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Finding 

Recommendation 

reflected  directly  in  the  final  reports,  as  this  is  a 
continuous  balancing  act  between  multiple  parties, 
scientific validity, and scope of the project.  

2.4  Relevance of final report 

Finding 

Recommendation 

There  is  a  50:50  split  in  stakeholder  opinion  (see 
survey results) on the question if they are content 
with  the  contents  of  the  final  report  as  well  as  on 
the  question  of  the  report  could  be  a  basis  for 
further action of the EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

This is not an easy finding to base a recommendation 
on since the survey provides limited insights into the 
reasons  for  why  some  stakeholders  are  not  fully 
content  with  the  final  report.  Below  is  one  relevant 
opinion provided through the survey on this point: 

 

I think the results are much too thin to base 
policy on. It is also much too generalized. 

Additional  potential  reasons,  based  on  the  project 
impressions from the project team, include: 

 

 

 

There were a few stakeholders which focused 
predominantly  on  getting  specific  points 
across; while those have been in most cases 
taken  into  account,  it  is  likely  that  the 
stakeholders  would  have  preferred  to  see 
their  particular  topic  of  concern  more 
prominently featured in the report 
There might have been some  dissatisfaction 
from  some  stakeholders  for  not  getting  a 
clearer  commitment  to  the  Clean  Air  Tech 
Hub 
Expectations  might  have  been  higher  in 
terms 
of 
tailoring 
results/recommendations 
results/recommendations 
and 
national contexts 

(i.e. 
to 

localisation 

local 

of 

7 

 
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

– SURVEY RESULTS 

Overall Status 

My organisation is: 

My organisation is: - Other (please describe) 

trade association 

industry association 

European trade organisation for LSH 

8 

 
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

Which country are you from? 

I felt sufficiently involved throughout the development of the report 

I would have preferred to be more closely involved in the development of the report 

9 

 
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

The periods between the three project meetings were too short 

The periods between the three project meetings were too long 

I feel like my voice was sufficiently heard during the development of the report 

10 

 
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

If you would like to, please provide more detailed feedback on the previous section 
The answer should be limited to 1,000 characters 

the report forms a good basis for the continuation of this pilot project, although it could still be further 

improved in some parts. But key are the recommendations. I am curious about the follow up to this 

report 

The outcome of the last meeting was that for several technological developments towards reduced 

emissions standards for evaluation are missing. This is a principle problem and basis for robust 

technology in the market. The topic was not covered enough in the report. 

See previous email where I elaborate on my views on the stakeholder involvement. 

I think it was strange that fossil solid fuel was mixed with renewable solid fuels, asking for complete 

different approaches.  This was stressed by me on several occasions but not picked up upon. Also the 

focus was too much on technology rather than on installation and maintenance of heating systems 

which has a much bigger impact than shaving of 10mg of something. 

1. fuel quality: The manufacturer of a boiler define the quality of fuel  for which the  boilers is made. If 

the customer use a lower quality he loses the  guarantee for the boiler. 2. replacement of old boilers: 

Due to the intensive research and development within the last decades the emissions of new biomass 

boilers are much lower. If you look at the revisions in the standardisation of the respective EN 303-5 in 

the last decades you will get a good picture of this development. For Example in Austria the 

Umweltbundesamt identified old biomass boilers ( Allesbrenner)  for 16,8% of the overall dust 

emissions ( all sectors !). This Dust emissions could be reduced by 90 %   by replacing them with new 

biomass boilers. 3. Automatic combustion air control: The most important invention was the automatic 

combustion air control ( e.g. Lambda probes ) .  All new boilers are fitted with this automatic 

combustion control and reduce the emission by app. 90%! The correct air supply at any phase of usage 

is the key element how much emissions are produced. A filter can reduce the emissions by a certain 

percentage - but good combustion can reduce the absolute emissions. 4. Boilers have a short heat up 

period and a long duration of burning. This is the reason why the emissions of boilers are closer to the 

emissions of liquid or gaseous boilers in relation to the heat output than to the emissions of stoves. so 

we think it is not possible to compare stoves and boilers from a technical and usage perspective. 5. 

Boilers are operated together with hot water storage tanks - this makes them more efficient and  it is 

possible to operate the whole system in a stable mode over a longer period. 6. Particle size and 

toxicity: It is important to make difference in the kind of particles ( organic - inorganic, water soluble - 

non water soluble ). This is also the main difference between the automotive sector and the heating 

sector and consequently the methods of measurements. It is important to avoid a specific kind of 

emissions. 

I think that the overall number of stakeholders involved throughout the process was appropriate 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

I think that more stakeholders should have been involved in the process 

I think that the distribution between different stakeholder groups (e.g. industry, research, NGOs) 

was adequate 

12 

 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

I think that the geographical distribution of stakeholders was adequate 

If you would like to, please provide more detailed feedback on the previous section. 
The answer should be limited to 1,000 characters 

We fully agree with your suggestions for the removal of old appliances - boilers and stoves - to reduce 

emissions. Please define low- zero emission. Ecodesign requires 20/40 mg/m³ PM - at 10% O2 for solid 

fuel boilers. BAT: It is hardly possible to increase efficiency and reduce all emissions. Our 

understanding of BAT is a technology which meets all requirements and not a collection of the "best of" 

of different appliances as it is actually in the Ecodesign regulation. Until now it is common 

understanding, that a regulation is valid for the whole single market. Do you suggest, that within 

Ecodesign just the efficiency should be regulated and the emissions should be regulated by each MS? 

For reduction technologies it is essential to create standards to measure their functionality and the 

energy consumption. Like pumps in a boiler they are always a technology of their own and should 

treated as stand alone product  which can and should be combined with a heating appliance. For solid 

fuel boilers standards are available EN 303-5! A fuel Quality standard for biomass is also available ISO 

17225 -serie  We still miss the importance of automatic combustion air control as a key element of 

good combustion. 

The representation of industry was not sufficient in the process. 

I don’t have the insight to comment on this. 

I do not feel this is the right way of doing this type of research. It depends too much on who is there or 

available rather than who is needed to assure the best possible outcome. In this process that was 

insufficient. 

13 

 
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

I am content with the contents of the final report 

I feel that the report could be a basis for further action of the EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

I understand why the European Commission commissioned the report (e.g. concerning its 

objective, choice of sector) 

14 

 
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
FINAL REPORT EVALUATION PART - EU Clean Air Technology Hub 

If you would like to, please provide more detailed feedback on the previous section. 
The answer should be limited to 1,000 characters 

The reason for this pilot project is clear: domestic wood combustion is still a major source of PM and 

other emissions in many MS 

See the answer to the pre-previous section. 

Please insure that Commission Regulations (EU) 2015/1189, 2013/813 and similar are to be enforced in 

all EU member states under thread of punishment! 

I think the results are much too thin to base policy on. It is also much too generalized. 

I cannot answer the first question cause I have not yet seen the full report. 

If you would like to, please provide additional feedback on points not mentioned in the 
survey. 
The answer should be limited to 1,000 characters 

See previous section. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU 

In person 

All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct information centres. You can find the 
address of the centre nearest you at: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en 

On the phone or by email 

Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact 
this service: 

– by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls), 

– at the following standard number: +32 22999696, or  

– by email via: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en 

FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE EU 

Online 

Information about the European Union in all the official languages of the EU is available on the Europa 
website at: https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en 

EU publications 

You can download or order free and priced EU publications from: https://op.europa.eu/en/publications. 
Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained by contacting Europe Direct or your local 
information centre (see https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en). 

EU law and related documents 

For access to legal information from the EU, including all EU law since 1952 in all the official language 
versions, go to EUR-Lex at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu 

Open data from the EU 

The EU Open Data Portal (http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en) provides access to datasets from the EU. 
Data can be downloaded and reused for free, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.