Welcomes the Commission communication of February 2016 on an EU strategy on heating and cooling, but highlights the lack of progress and low targets set for renewable use in heating and cooling, in particular in buildings; stresses the great potential for continued progress in renewable use in heating and cooling; notes that the heating and cooling sector accounts for half the EU’s final energy consumption and therefore plays a key role in achieving the EU objectives on climate and renewable energy resources; recognises the benefits of increasing renewable energy in the heating and cooling sector; stresses the increased flexibility of thermal infrastructure and storage in facilitating the integration of variable renewable sources by sto ...[+++]ring energy in the form of heat, offering excellent returns on investment and providing opportunities for enhancing quality local employment; calls on the Commission to bridge the regulatory gaps in the post-2020 renewables legislative package; reiterates that efforts in the heating and cooling sector hold great potential for increased energy security (given that 61 % of gas imported into the European Union is used in buildings, mainly for heating purposes), for example through the development of district heating/cooling networks, which are an efficient means of integrating sustainable heat into cities on a large scale, since they can simultaneously deliver heat derived from a range of sources and are not inherently dependent on any one source.

[17] On the other hand, gas heating may be more energy efficient than electric heating or other forms of fossil fuel heating, implying that gas may have growth potential in the heating sector in some Member States.

‘energy’: all forms of commercially available energy, including electricity, natural gas (including liquefied natural gas), liquefied petroleum gas, any fuel for heating and cooling (including district heating and cooling), coal and lignite, peat, transport fuels (excluding aviation and maritime bunker fuels) and biomass as defined in Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market

Heating systems fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

- service distribution (heat, water, gas, electricity, etc.),

SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 3 , A RENT ALLOWANCE SHALL BE GRANTED TO AN OFFICIAL WHOSE MONTHLY RENT EXCLUDING , WHERE APPROPRIATE , THE COST OF UTILITIES SUCH AS HEATING , WATER , GAS , ELECTRICITY AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES , AMOUNTS TO MORE THAN :