Sustainable Energy Systems on Near-Future Smart Cities: The Impact of Household´s Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Europe

Abstract

Objective: The study addresses the urgency of finding alternatives to high-potential greenhouse fluorinated refrigerants, especially for domestic heating systems, due to imminent legal restrictions in Europe. When exploring the concept of Smart Cities, the energy efficiency of heating/cooling systems that use HFCs is highlighted, identifying the refrigerants responsible for serious global warming and which are being gradually eliminated by the European Union.   Framework: Starting with a brief historical analysis of artificial heating and international agreements that have monitored the impact of human actions on the environment, followed by theoretical measures adopted and an assessment of the current European legal landscape related to refrigerants, projecting their impact on existing technologies.   Method: Aplly efficient diagnostic, especially in low- and middle-income houses in Portugal, observing climate change, including the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere such as use of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) to evaluate environmental policies.   Research Results:  The impact of powerful greenhouse gases such as HFCs, with residential heating in the EU a major source of emissions. Sustainable alternatives such as heat pumps and the gradual transition to refrigerants with lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) are promoted, supported by legislative measures and financial incentives.   Research implications: One of the major barriers to climate actionin cities, especially in Europe is to access climate finance to attend green and sustenable criterias. As key to ensuring domestic ability to mobilize sources of finance, such as internal programmes of reducing old skills of coverage in local climate action. The study contributes to debate the multi-level governance for Local Climate Action and integrating national climate change policies based on the global urban agenda, SDG.   Originality/Value: As result of the master’s investigation the article is prior in the hitting energy consuming in Europe and especially in Portugal, been part of the graduate program of Aveiro University.