Despite the planned ban on new gas heaters from next year, systems should be able to be operated with climate-neutral hydrogen. But a broad deployment is unrealistic and expensive, criticize associations.
An alliance of business, consumer protection and environmental associations has sharply criticized the specifications in the federal government’s heating law for hydrogen-capable gas heating systems. A widespread use of hydrogen heating is unrealistic, the alliance explained. Installing so-called H2-ready gas heaters today is a purely “fake solution” to continue heating with natural gas for many years to come.
High costs for consumers and municipalities
According to the federal government’s plans, new gas heaters should no longer be installed from next year. However, this does not apply to systems that can be operated with climate-neutral hydrogen. The prerequisite for this is that the responsible gas network operator has a plan for a hydrogen connection so that the supply of hydrogen is possible.
Associations such as the German Nature Conservation Union, the Federal Association for Renewable Energy and the Consumer Association of the Federal Republic of Germany consider this to be window dressing and warn of the high costs for consumers and municipalities: “The installation of a new gas heating system in the hope of being able to operate it with climate-neutral hydrogen in the short or medium term is associated with immense ecological and financial risks,” it said.
Science agrees “that switching from natural gas networks to pure hydrogen is not practicable in the building sector”. In addition, even after 2030, hydrogen will only be available “in very small quantities and at very high prices”. Even if the grid conversion were to succeed in individual areas, consumers could face very high operating costs.
“No time to rely on sham solutions”
In mid-April, the Federal Cabinet approved the draft of the so-called Building Energy Act. The exception for hydrogen heaters is largely due to the use of the FDP, which also insists on “technology openness” here. In the parliamentary process, the Liberals want to advocate further changes, such as longer periods for the expansion of hydrogen networks.
However, the associations today called for the entire exemption for H2-Ready gas heaters to be removed. “In view of the increasingly pressing climate crisis, there is no time to rely on bogus solutions and use them to justify the fact that natural gas will continue to be used for heating for many years,” they explained.