Ukraine war: federal government wants to prioritize funding for more climate-friendly buildings

It is possible that the terrible war in Ukraine could become a real turbo for the German energy transition. After all, it has revealed the great dependence of German supply systems on Russian raw materials. This is not only reflected in the steep rise in gasoline prices at the pumps in this country. Heating costs are also likely to continue to rise for many in view of rising gas prices. It is therefore all the more important to become self-sufficient from other countries as quickly as possible and to provide a supply system ourselves. There is no getting around renewable energies. Accordingly, solar panels on roofs are now to become mandatory from 2025, and heat pumps are to be promoted much more strongly.

In every crisis there is an opportunity

The path to renewable energy as Germany’s main source of supply is a long-held dream that has long since been meticulously pursued by more than just Green Party politicians. It is now almost a cross-party consensus that we must move away from fossil fuels such as gas and coal in perspective. Now the Ukraine war seems to be greatly accelerating this plan. Germany wants to pursue the goal of becoming independent of Russian energy sources in the long term. This is now to happen more quickly than originally envisaged. The focus here is on the energy efficiency of new buildings. According to a report in Welt am Sonntag, the regulations for these are to be adjusted as early as next year.

More solar roofs and heat pumps

The focus of the new regulations of the federal government are two new requirements of newly built houses. On the one hand, there is to be a duty to build solar roofs. On top of that, one wants to declare war on gas heaters. As early as 2025, the government wants to install primarily modern heat pumps that rely on electricity rather than gas. To encourage more solar panels on roofs, the federal government would like to provide attractive subsidies, for example. One would like to inform “house builders” extensively about the possibilities of pollution free heating and an ecological power supply.

The aim is to ensure that conventional gas heating is not even an option for house builders. But there is a problem. At present sufficiently experts for classical forms of heating act on the market. But it becomes problematic when almost exclusively modern heat pumps are installed. Finally many craftsmen are missing at present still the know-how for the shifting of the pollution free heating possibility. This problem the federation would like to work against with a genuine training offensive. If one avoids namely the present lack at skilled workers, also the waiting period for the completion of a new building is not extended.

Massive promotion of renewable energies

The federal government wants to promise financial benefits in particular if one decides to use an environmentally friendly energy supply. How successful this strategy is can be seen in the so-called innovation premium. This ensures that one receives almost 10,000 euros payment from the state when buying an electric car. The federal government would like to adjust its already planned financial support for efficient heating networks accordingly. In the coalition agreement, for example, a subsidy of 1.5 billion euros was agreed. According to the report in Die Welt, this target would obviously like to be significantly expanded.

The aim is to be able to exhaust the subsidy pot with a volume of 11.4 billion by 2030. This subsidy pot focuses on the obligation to use waste heat. The aim is to ensure that district heating does not exclusively use environmentally harmful fossil fuels. By feeding waste heat into the district heating system, the latter could dispense with a large percentage of fossil energy. However, the article is coy when it comes to details about this more ecological form of district heating.

“Super depreciation” is brought into play

Anyone who has followed the FDP’s campaign for the 2021 federal election a bit may have noticed the whispered term “super depreciation.” With this, the liberals would like to not only simplify depreciation when purchasing energy-efficient technology, but also accelerate it. This possibility of the financial support of national side is not yet in the detail admits however. The same applies also to it, which technology applies then in the sense of climatic protection and energy efficiency as promoteable. Corresponding details will certainly be available soon, however.

More shock ventilation for Ukraine

In the long term, only a far-reaching renunciation of gas, oil and coal of Russian origin is likely to move Putin to a political change of direction. At the same time, we as consumers are by no means inactive as the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck (Greens) made clear to ARD during an interview:

“If you want to hurt Putin a little, then you save energy.”

For this there are different possibilities, with which one would not always necessarily have to regulate the thermostat down. On the one hand, you can now buy smart thermostats that regulate a constant room temperature. But you can also rethink quite banal activities to ensure climate protection in your own home.

When it comes to airing, for example, it’s better to rely on short bursts of air twice a day. This is far more energy-saving than leaving the windows tilted open all day. A change in thinking should not only take place in private households. Also commercially used areas should think about it whether one could not save in particular heating costs. For this they would have to be taken into the obligation. Thus Habeck thinks according to own data about the fact that.