As of: March 23, 2024, 5:25 a.m
By: Max Schäfer
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The Ministry of Economic Affairs expects the gas network to be dismantled, but wants to use part of it for green hydrogen.
What does this mean for homeowners?
Munich – With the energy transition, the federal government is aiming to move away from fossil fuels.
Among other things, this means that from 2045 onwards, according to the Building Energy Act, heating with gas will no longer be allowed.
The Federal Ministry of Economics is therefore expecting a partial shutdown of the existing gas network.
“The exit from fossil natural gas must have been completed by then; gas distribution networks for the current natural gas supply will then no longer be needed in their current form and scope,” says an ideas paper from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Ministry of Economics plans to dismantle the gas network - but the energy supply should be secure
The ministry explains that it must be clarified in good time how further expansion into natural gas supply can be avoided and “under which conditions existing gas network connections may be disconnected and dismantled”.
According to the considerations, whether the networks are still needed depends on “the extent to which they can and should be used to distribute hydrogen”.
The ministry therefore assumes that the length of the distribution networks will decline sharply from the current 500,000 kilometers.
Private owners of a residential building with gas heating are currently not affected by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' considerations.
They are allowed to heat with natural gas until the end of 2044, then they have to remove the heaters.
The supply of gas should be ensured until a climate-neutral heat supply is possible.
It is crucial that “a continuous, affordable energy supply to end consumers” is guaranteed during the changeover.
Green hydrogen is not used in private homes - according to the paper from the Ministry of Economic Affairs
Some new gas heaters can already be operated with climate-neutral green hydrogen.
However, so far this has only been possible in a mixture with natural gas.
According to Wirtschaftswoche, the proportion of green hydrogen is only 20 percent.
Gas heaters that can run exclusively on green hydrogen are currently being developed.
However, it is questionable whether this makes sense for homeowners.
The Federal Ministry of Economics does not expect green hydrogen to be used for heating private homes in the future.
“A decentralized hydrogen supply, especially for heating customers or individual households, currently appears unlikely due to, among other things, the high costs of hydrogen in the heating sector and, above all, because of the limited quantities available,” says the Habeck Ministry’s paper.
Green hydrogen is the future - but probably not for heating in private homes.
This emerges from considerations by Habeck's Ministry of Economics.
(Archive photo) © Jonas Walzberg/dpa
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Instead, green hydrogen is primarily intended for energy-intensive industrial operations.
Due to the high production costs, it is currently being used where most of the climate-damaging greenhouse gases can be saved.
After gas is switched off, private homeowners should heat using district heating or heat pumps
For private households, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is planning to connect to the district heating network or heating systems instead.
Some municipalities are in favor of compulsory connection to the district heating network.
However, according to
Wirtschaftswoche
, homeowners who can prove that their heating is more climate-friendly than district heating can exempt themselves from this.
If the gas heating no longer works before 2044 and a supply of district heating is possible, homeowners will have to make a connection, reports
Wirtschaftswoche
.
Heat pumps should be the exception.
(ms/dpa)