After saying goodbye to gasoline and diesel engines that were discontinued in Brussels due to Berlin’s opposition, Germany may also back down on the halt to the sale of gas boilers planned for 2024. The liberals of the FDP are two parties that support the rule of social democrat Olaf Scholz.
The ban on the sale of heating systems powered by fossil fuels was passed by the majority in March 2022, at the same time as the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which has already raised gas prices. The purpose of the draft law was to ensure that “every newly installed heating system is powered by 65% renewable energy” in the hearts of Germans, starting January 1 next year, given the rising bills. A different answer was given: In 2022, around 600,000 new gas boilers were installed in Germany, despite the interruption of cheap supplies from Russia. Heat, which should be one of the main forces of the ecological transition in construction, recorded good sales figures compared to the previous year. passed, but they stopped at 236,000 units. Euractiv writes that 70,000 more families are returning to district heating.
Given that gas boilers have an average lifespan of up to 30 years, which does not indicate a trend reversal compared to fossil fuels and jeopardizes Germany’s goal of being climate neutral by 2045, Euractiv always reports. For liberal leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, these data were a boon to reinvigorate the Greens’ opposition to pressure to accelerate the transition: “The draft was well-intentioned in terms of climate policy, but devastating economically and socially,” he told Bild these days. Therefore, according to him, the targets should be “radically revised”. In other words, the stopping of natural gas boilers can be postponed. For Lindner, a Porsche lover, this prospect meant a second victory after his victory over petrol and diesel cars: at the end of 2022, the Scholz government reached an agreement to ban the sale of these cars in Brussels. But it was precisely the pressure from the liberals that prompted Scholz to make a sensational retreat just two months later.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
