German homeowners unhappy with progress in heating sector transition
Clean Energy Wire
Most homeowners in Germany support the country’s transition towards a low-carbon economy but are unhappy with the project’s slow progress, a survey commissioned by heating industry association ZVSHK has found.
While 65 percent of respondents said they approve of Germany’s Energiewende, 68 percent also said its political implementation is unsatisfactory. “Policymakers act too reluctantly and do not create incentives for the heating market,” ZVSHK head Helmut Bramann said in a press release. Germany needs to implement measures like making heating modernisation tax deductible, if it is to achieve modernisation rates close to what is necessary to meet emissions reduction goals in the heating sector, he added.
The survey also revealed that most homeowners only think about electricity when they hear the word ‘Energiewende,’ while the almost equally important heating and transport sectors are given much less attention, Bramann noted.
Heating and hot water production account for about one third of Germany’s energy consumption. Germany has agreed to lower emissions in the heating sector by 38 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels under the EU effort sharing system, but its sluggish progress means the country will have to pay billions of euros in fines for failing to comply with the bloc’s climate targets.
