German subsidies expected to boost low-emission heating systems

New federal subsidies are expected to boost the sale of low-emissions heating systems in Germany, news website Welt Online reports. According to the article, the Federation of the German Heating Industry (BDH) expects a 10-percent increase this year in sales of heat pumps, wood pellet heating systems and efficient gas condensing boilers. But BDH warns that measures like replacing old heating systems and insulating buildings will be insufficient to meet the new climate goals proposed by the European Commission, and climate-neutral heating based on biomass or hydrogen will have to play a larger role.

Heating is a major energy issue in Germany. Almost a third of the country's total final energy consumption in 2018 went into space and water heating in buildings, and more than 90 percent of Germany's heating systems are currently fuelled with oil and natural gas, according to the BDH, while more than half of all heating systems are considered inefficient by today's standards.