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New danger for Habeck's heating plans: EU ban could undermine heat pumps

2023-04-29T08:19:53.901Z


A refrigerant ban could throw a spanner in the works for Robert Habeck's ambitious heat pump plans. A refrigerant ban could throw a spanner in the works for Robert Habeck's ambitious heat pump plans. Berlin – Heat pumps are currently considered to be one of the most climate-friendly heating methods. More and more homeowners are now opting for the heat pump instead of oil and gas heating. And the new heating requirements of the Federal Ministry of Economics are likely to give the heat pump boom


A refrigerant ban could throw a spanner in the works for Robert Habeck's ambitious heat pump plans.

Berlin – Heat pumps are currently considered to be one of the most climate-friendly heating methods.

More and more homeowners are now opting for the heat pump instead of oil and gas heating.

And the new heating requirements of the Federal Ministry of Economics are likely to give the heat pump boom another boost.

But these are probably not completely harmless.

Habeck's heating plans: EU ban brings heat pump problem

Heat pumps work with a so-called refrigerant.

However, many of these refrigerants are considered to be harmful to the environment.

Most heat pumps currently installed use so-called fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases), which are even more harmful to the climate than CO2.

A ban is now being discussed in the EU due to the negative aspects of these gases.

But that would effectively block climate protection.

The EU Parliament is currently still in coordination with the member states on the regulations.

This is how a heat pump works

The heat pump absorbs thermal energy from the environment by sending a refrigerant through an evaporator.

The refrigerant becomes gaseous and is then compressed by a compressor, causing it to heat up.

The heated refrigerant then passes through a condenser where it releases the heat to the heating system, becoming a liquid again in the process.

The refrigerant then flows back through an expansion valve to the evaporator, where the cycle begins again.

Through this process, the heat pump can capture thermal energy from the environment and distribute it in a space to heat it.

So, a heat pump is basically an inverted refrigerator that takes heat energy and distributes it around the house to warm the room.

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function of a heat pump

© German Heat Pump Association (BWP) eV

“Most heat pumps run on F-gases.

That will no longer be possible with the ban, ”explains energy expert Corinna Kodim from the Haus & Grund association to

Bild

.

There are already other heat pump models that use a different refrigerant – namely propane – but there is a catch.

Compared to propane, the F-gases are not flammable, which also enables heat pumps to be installed indoors.

If there were actually a ban on F-gases, the heat pumps would have to go outside because of the risk of fire - but this can often become a problem, especially in cities because of the space requirement.

Industry experts warn of refrigerant ban

Industry experts are also extremely critical of the possible EU ban.

The industry associations, the Federal Industry Association for Technical Building Equipment (BTGA), the Building Air Conditioning Association (FGK) and the Manufacturers' Association for Air Conditioning Devices (RLT) commented on the EU Commission's plans back in the summer of 2022.

The statement said that a ban on these gases "would seriously jeopardize an accelerated and widespread adoption of heat pumps in the coming years."

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A new EU ban could thwart Habeck's heating plans.

© IMAGO / Panthermedia/Metodi Popov

Habecks-Heiz-Gesetz provides for even stricter refrigerant rules

This would put a major obstacle in the way of Robert Habeck's (Green) heating plans.

In addition, the draft law for the new Building Energy Act (GEG) states that the requirements for the operation of new heat pumps will be specified.

Literally, Paragraph 71p says: "[...] and to create specifications for the choice of refrigerant in Germany that go beyond the specifications of future Union law.

A specification is being considered, according to which only climate- and environmentally friendly natural refrigerants, such as e.g.

g. propane or CO2.”

The federal government would therefore like to set even stricter specifications for the choice of refrigerant.

But there should also be exceptions, as the law states.

"If safety requirements do not allow the use of flammable refrigerants such as propane", "climate-friendly F-gases" should continue to be permitted.

However, the cases in which this might apply are not specified.

(ph)

List of rubrics: © IMAGO / Panthermedia/Metodi Popow

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-04-29

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