Share this on social media
Ban for good: end of fossil fuel boiler can pave EU’s way out of Russian gas
(Coolproducts, 19 Jul 2022) A blanket ban of gas and oil boilers can slash EU’s imports of Putin’s gas by up to 28%, the latest Coolproducts study finds. Silver bullets do not exist in policy-making, but the renewable heating bullet is as silver as it can get: supporting EU security, tackling energy poverty, all the while clearing national climate targets.
The EU imports 45% of its gas from Russia, and the war in Ukraine has painfully underscored Europe’s needs to boost energy efficiency and transition to cleaner, cheaper, and more diverse sources of renewables – a message expected to be reiterated in this upcoming Wednesday’s Winter Package from the Commission.
With 75% of European homes using fossil fuels for heating, the sector has always been a matter of concern in climate topics. However, with the war in Ukraine and the sanctioning of Russia, European consumers have experienced massive energy price hikes, high inflation, and rising rates of energy poverty. Getting fossil fuels out of our heating has now become a matter of security, climate, and social concerns.
On the Ban-wagon
Fortunately, incompatible with European social and climate targets, oil and gas boilers’ days appear to be numbered. Two recent EU initiatives are aiming at an out-of-the-market sentence for boilers: the REPowerEU plans mark 2029 as the last year when a new fossil fuel boiler can be retailed on the EU market, while the latest draft proposal of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) proposes 2035 as the absolute last year for fossil heating to be used in buildings. The latest nail in the boilers’ coffin came in hot from last week’s ITRE vote, where the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) underlined that a switch from old fossil boilers to newer ones will not be labelled as energy savings.
Coolproducts, 19 Jul 2022: Ban for good: end of fossil fuel boiler can pave EU’s way out of Russian gas
