Share of renewables in German buildings sector stagnates as clear target is lacking

Although the building sector is considered a key part of Germany's energy transition, the share of renewable energies used for heating and cooling buildings has stagnated at a low level for years, Andreas Niesmann writes for Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Despite this, the country does not have a national climate target in the building sector, the article says. There is no “binding target for the years up to and including 2030” for the share of renewables used for heating and cooling, reads a reply to a formal question posed by the Green Party parliamentary group, written by the energy and economy ministry and seen by RND. At the European level, the Renewable Energies Directive (RED II) sets an “indicative benchmark for the annual increase in the share of renewables of 1.3 percent compared to the share in 2020,” the document says.

In 2015, the national share of renewable energies for heating and cooling buildings was 13.2 percent, and this number has hardly changed, RND reports. The government said it assumes it will achieve an expansion to 14 percent renewable energies in 2020, but cannot confirm it at this point due to a lack of data. "The federal government is content with a share of just 14 percent of renewable energies in the building sector in 2020 and is dispensing with an expansion target for 2030 altogether. This is how you drive climate and resource protection up against the wall," energy policy spokeswoman of the Green parliamentary group Julia Verlinden told RND.

Altogether, 14 percent of Germany's greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Reducing emissions in the building (heating and cooling) sector thus plays a key role in reaching the country's climate targets.