German heating system suppliers said they can roll out electric heat pumps to households on a large scale to replace oil and gas boilers and protect the climate, but lawmakers must be flexible on options to cut the sector's carbon footprint.
"The industry is committed to supporting government goals to install 500,000 new pumps each year from 2024," Markus Staudt, managing director of the federation of German Heating Industry (BDH), said on March 9. He added producers were revving up capacities.
"But we must give some 11 million old and inefficient heating systems and those installed in recent years a chance to continue running partly on green gases," he said at a press conference ahead of the trade fair ISH that runs next week.
The Berlin government is due to launch policies to cut CO2 in buildings, catching up with a sector that consumes over a quarter of all energy in Europe's biggest economy and emits 15% of its CO2.
The Economy and Housing ministries are proposing new heating systems be fit to use at least 65% CO2-free energy as an input source from 2024.
But banning oil and gas too soon would be technically and financially unrealistic, the industry believes.
"We can't bet on an all-electric solution, which would require an urgent and crazy-sum power network expansion," said Helmut Bramann, managing director of another sector lobby, ZVSHK.
A ban would also close the door to hybrid systems that could gradually introduce more home-produced solar thermal and photovoltaic energy, and fill existing gas pipelines with renewable-derived gases, he added.
Among 980,000 new heating units put in last year, 236,000 were heat pumps, that extract heat from the air or ground and whose sales were up 53%, BDH data showed.
But some 598,500 units installed in 2022 still rely on gas, and the remainder on heating oil and biomass, such as wood pellets from sawmill industry waste.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck at a separate appearance promised financial support for modernizing homes.
Recommended Reading
Marketed: Delta Minerals Non-producing Sale in Colorado
2024-05-02 - Delta Minerals LLC has retained EnergyNet for the sale of non-producing minerals in Bent, Cheyenne and Kiowa counties, Colorado.
NuStar Energy Unitholders Approve Merger with Sunoco
2024-05-02 - The transaction is expected to close on or about May 3, in which NuStar Energy LP will merge with and into a merger subsidiary of Sunoco LP.
FTC OKs Exxon-Pioneer Merger, but Bars Sheffield from Exxon’s Board
2024-05-02 - A megamerger between Exxon Mobil and Pioneer Natural Resources can proceed, but Pioneer Chairman Scott Sheffield is out, the Federal Trade Commission says.
Stice: Diamondback’s Small Company Culture Suits Big M&A Appetite
2024-05-01 - Diamondback Energy CEO Travis Stice tells analysts that the company’s nimble nature is among its top qualities, allowing for rapid growth and the successful integration of Endeavor Energy this year.
Danos Acquires Performance Energy Services
2024-03-07 - Danos Group Holdings will acquire all PES business units, the Houma administrative office and waterfront operations facility.