The government is planning a massive renewal of heating systems with heat pumps. At the same time, there are fears of a permanent shutdown of the Russian natural gas tap.
Day by day the situation in the energy field worsens in Germany, with the news coming out every day about natural gas reserves not inspiring any optimism at all. Germany’s Minister of Economy and Energy Robert Habeck hit back with fresh remarks at the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Sustainability Conference on Thursday, warning that as early as July 11, Russia could stop all natural gas flows through the Nord Stream pipeline. 1 in the Baltic.
“There is a risk that the pipeline will be completely closed,” he said characteristically. Russia has already cited technical malfunctions to limit the flow of natural gas, but on July 11 official maintenance work begins. Usually the pipeline closes in the middle of summer for ten days. Robert Habeck is now publicly expressing the fear that Russia could take advantage of the situation to bring about what everyone “trembles” in Germany: the permanent closing of the Russian natural gas tap.
However, he reiterated that although now in the summer Germany’s sufficiency is guaranteed, no one can now say anything with certainty about the winter. “Natural gas for Germany is now a rare commodity,” he said.
The future in heat pumps
At the same time, the government coalition, following a proposal by the Green Minister of Economy and Energy Robert Hambeck and the Minister of Infrastructure Klara Gaivits, is working on an ambitious energy plan, according to which six million pumps should be installed in German homes by 2030 heat.
These are heating systems that transfer thermal energy, for example, through water or air – for example, the well-known air conditioners that are widespread in Greece are included in this type of heating – or even through geothermal energy. In fact, in order to make the heat produced usable, they need electricity for their operation. Another goal of the government is for this current to come from renewable energy sources.
However, the medium-term goal is to install 500,000 heat pumps in German homes by 2024. A huge number, considering that only 150,000 such pumps were installed in Germany last year. For the German government it is in any case another way that could lead to a quick weaning from Russian natural gas, without burdening the environment.
According to industry information, of the approximately 21 million heating systems in Germany, 14 million operate with natural gas, 5.5 million with oil, approximately 900,000 with biomass and 1.1 million with heat pumps.
Dimitra Kyranoudis, Berlin
Source: Deutsche Welle
Source: Capital
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