Policy Instruments to Promote the Use of Renewable Energy for Residential Heating and Cooling: A Case of Turkey

The Paris Climate Agreement came into force in 2016 in order to ensure sustainable development and eliminate poverty by combating climate change and its disastrous effects. In this context, countries have determined their long-term climate targets and identified expanding the use of renewable energy as one of the policy instruments to be implemented. Within the scope of this study, the residential energy consumption, which represents approximately one-fifth of Turkey's final energy consumption, is examined and the use of renewable energy in space heating and cooling is analyzed. The EU member states with similar energy consumption profiles with Turkey are identified by using hierarchical clustering analysis. Further, the policies of the selected member states that use higher rates of renewable energy in space heating and cooling are investigated and policy options that Turkey can implement in the long-term are determined. The findings show that although Turkey has a strong legislative framework for the dissemination of renewable energy in the residential sector, additional policy measures including development of financial schemes, prioritization of renewables in areas where renewables are available as an economically viable solution, revision of energy taxation and setting up obligation systems can help a wider use of renewable energy in residential heating and cooling.