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Germany\u2019s government has drawn heavy criticism from environmental groups after it agreed to remove parts of a controversial law on heating homes. <\/p>\n
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The legislation previously stated that newly installed heating systems were required to use at least 65 per cent renewable energy – such as a heat pump. <\/p>\n
The reform will now allow homeowners to use oil and gas instead. <\/p>\n
One critic has called the move “an unconditional fulfilment of all the wishes of the fossil fuel lobby”.<\/p>\n
Germany scraps renewable heating mandate<\/p>\n
The law on renewable heating<\/a> sources was passed in 2023, and hailed by climate experts as one of the most ambitious goals of the centre-left-led government in power at the time. <\/p>\n But critics pointed to the challenges presented by rising inflation, with one newspaper calling the bill \u201cHabeck\u2019s heating hammer\u201d, referring to the legislation\u2019s author, Robert Habeck of the Green Party.<\/p>\n The right-wing, climate-denying Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland slammed the law\u2019s promotion of heat pumps, accusing the Green Party of \u201cforcing\u201d households to make costly interventions and removing their freedom of choice.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s government has now agreed to scrap the renewable heating<\/a> mandate, as well as the requirement for expert consultation when installing a new system.<\/p>\n \u2018This reform is a disaster\u2019<\/p>\n The centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) maintains that the modifications to the legislation will still align with the target to cut CO2 emissions from buildings<\/a>, among the major sources of planet-warming pollution, while giving households greater choice as to which technology to use.<\/p>\n Proponents say the legislation plans for a greater use of \u2018green\u2019 fossil fuels. <\/p>\n Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said homeowners would be able to choose sources including \u201chybrid models, biomass; yes, even gas and oil heating, but with an increasing proportion of biogas or bio-oil\u201d.<\/p>\n The \u2018green\u2019 credentials of biomass and biogas<\/a> are highly debated as their production and combustion can lead to significant carbon emissions and ecosystem damage. <\/p>\n Campaigners have accused the government of abandoning its climate goals – which include hitting net zero emissions by 2045.<\/p>\n “This reform is a disaster,” Green Party parliamentary group co-leader Katharina Dr\u00f6ge told the German Press Agency (dpa). <\/p>\n “The CDU and SPD [Social Democratic Party] have today made it abundantly clear: climate protection is completely irrelevant to this coalition,\u201d she added. \u201cThe federal government has abandoned the achievement of the climate targets<\/a>.” <\/p>\n The managing director of the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH), Barbara Metz, described the revised law as “an unconditional fulfilment of all the wishes of the fossil fuel lobby”.<\/p>\n \u2018An enormously expensive gas cost trap\u2019<\/p>\n