Beyond the low-temperature applications there are several potential fields of
application for solar thermal energy at a medium and medium-high temperature level (80–240C). The most important of them are: heat production for industrial
processes, solar cooling and air conditioning, solar drying and seawater desalina-tion. The industrial heat-demand constitutes about 15% of the overall demand of
final energy requirements in the southern European countries. The present energy
demand in the EU for medium and medium-high temperatures is estimated to be
about 300 TWh/year