Germany cannot cut heating emissions fast enough with current laws – BDEW

With the current legal framework for energy and climate policy, Germany’s building sector climate target would be missed by a wide margin, said energy industry association BDEW in a report. The country must “massively” expand renewable energies and remain open to all climate-friendly heating options to reach its greenhouse gas reduction targets in the buildings sector, the lobby group said. “Alongside electricity generated from renewable sources in heat pumps and green district heating, hydrogen can become part of a climate-neutral heat supply of the future,” said BDEW head Kerstin Andreae. The country, she said, had to “urgently step up its game” in the heating transition. The report shows that a “building-oriented” heat supply is needed, where, for example, heat pumps could be used in buildings with a high efficiency standard and district heating should be used in urban areas.

By 2030, the buildings sector’s greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 68 percent compared to 1990. In 2021, the buildings sector missed its prescribed climate target. As of 2024, every new heating system has to be operated on 65 percent renewable energies if possible, the government coalition decided recently. As the vast majority of homes are still heated with fossil fuels, installing electric heat pumps and connecting houses to district heating networks are part of the effort to become climate neutral and cut dependence on Russian fossil fuels.