Eliminating the Carbon Emissions in Hotels due to Energy Use in the Island of Crete, Greece: A SWOT Analysis

Hotel buildings utilize large amounts of energy meeting their energy needs in heat, cooling and electricity. They mainly utilize fossil fuels and grid electricity while the use of renewable energies is rather limited. Tourism industry is well developed in Crete, Greece hosting an increasing number of visitors every year. The elimination of carbon emissions in hotel buildings improves their environmental sustainability and increases their attractiveness to environmentally conscious tourists. Solar energy is abundant in Crete, Greece while it is currently used for heat production with solar thermal systems and for electricity generation with solar photovoltaic systems. The combined use of solar thermal energy, solar photovoltaic energy and high efficiency heat pumps can meet all the energy requirements in Cretan hotels eliminating their carbon emissions due to energy use. Additionally, offsetting any remaining carbon emissions can assist in their complete decarbonization. A SWOT analysis regarding the decarbonization of the hotel industry in Crete has been implemented indicating its strengths and opportunities revealing also its weaknesses and threats. The results of the current study could be useful to hotel owners, to public authorities in Crete and to energy companies dealing with installation of benign energy systems.