The German building stock is to become climate-neutral by 2045. The federal government therefore wants to gradually make all heating systems climate-friendly. From January 1, 2024, every newly installed heating system should be operated with 65 percent renewable energy. The traffic light coalition has now found compromises for existing properties. Up to now, almost half of all German households have been heated with natural gas and a quarter with oil. The revised building energy law is to be passed by the summer.
Only existing boilers that are more than 30 years old have to be removed immediately. Younger, functioning existing heating systems do not have to be replaced for the time being. The replacement obligation for functioning oil and gas heating systems provided for in the original draft law has been waived. Broken fossil fuel heaters should be allowed to be repaired so that they can continue to run.
Even if oil and gas heating systems break down beyond repair after the deadline of January 1, 2024, a climate-friendly alternative is not immediately necessary. There is a transitional period of three years during which conversion or retrofitting is mandatory. For example, a gas boiler can be installed again, which can be converted into a “hybrid heating system” and meets the requirement of 65 percent renewable energies. With so-called hybrid heating systems, the heat pump is primarily operated, but supplemented by a fossil heat generator such as gas. This jumps in on particularly cold days.
In the case of apartment buildings with gas floor heating, the transition period is up to six years: after the failure of the first heating system, the owners have three years to decide on a renewable model. If the heating is centralized, there is then up to three more years to implement.
It is not until 2045 that fossil fuels can definitely no longer be used for heating.
The requirement of 65 percent does not apply to homeowners who are over 80 years old and live in their own home. However, if the house is inherited or sold to younger people, old fossil heating systems must be converted. Here, too, a transitional period of two years should apply.
Another argument for an exception is the economy, i.e. if the value of the existing house and the necessary investment sum for the conversion of the heating system are disproportionate. Details are not yet known.
The government does not prescribe the heat pump or any other technology as a mandatory alternative to oil and gas. Modern gas heaters remain permitted as “hybrid solutions” as long as they meet the 65 percent requirement. They must therefore be operated with 65 percent green gases or be able to be combined with a heat pump.
Another option, especially in urban areas, is to be connected to a heating network in which renewable heat sources and waste heat are combined. There is no need to install a heat pump. If the connection to a heating network is “foreseeable but not yet possible”, writes the Federal Ministry of Economics, there is a transitional period of five years to ensure the connection.
Hydrogen heaters are also possible under certain conditions. So-called H2-Ready gas heaters can be operated 100 percent with hydrogen after conversion. In order to be allowed to install this type of heating, however, the municipality needs a concrete investment and transformation plan for hydrogen networks. In addition, these heaters must be operated with 50 percent biomethane from 2030 and with 65 percent hydrogen from 2036. As a result of the new resolutions, blue hydrogen (produced from natural gas) can also be used in addition to green hydrogen (produced from water and electricity).
Classic gas heating and natural gas are still cheaper than climate-friendly heating and renewable gases such as biomethane. In the long term, however, this will be reversed, argues the federal government. She wants to finance the conversion with discounted electricity tariffs for heat pumps and a subsidy program. The exact graduation is not yet known, but households with low and middle incomes are to be supported in particular. In cases of hardship, the 65 percent requirement does not have to be met according to the Federal Ministry of Economics, for example if it “is not economically reasonable for special reasons”.
The ministry also expects a new market for used heaters and rental models for temporary solutions.
In many existing buildings, refurbishment measures, such as the replacement of windows or insulation, are necessary in parallel with the replacement of the heating system. The costs involved have not yet been discussed. It only means that the existing “funding of energy-related renovation measures” should be continued. Who gets how much subsidy and who maybe none at all, is still to be clarified. Many cities and municipalities have not yet started planning heating and hydrogen networks. However, the regulations will apply from next year.
This article first appeared on Capital.de.
