<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The reform of the Buildings Energy Act is intended to increase the share of renewable energies in the heat sector. But the proposed measures (among which the promotion of electric heat pumps figures prominently) are ecologically ineffective. They will not decrease the total amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in Germany, which are already subject to the caps of national and European emissions trading systems. Installing heat pumps in the building stock will require high investments and thus make any emission reductions in the heat sector much more expensive than in other sectors. Furthermore, due to its command-and-control approach, the bill is incompatible with the central principles of the German Social Market Economy.</p>
</abstract>

The reform of the Buildings Energy Act is intended to increase the share of renewable energies in the heat sector. But the proposed measures (among which the promotion of electric heat pumps figures prominently) are ecologically ineffective. They will not decrease the total amount of CO2 emissions in Germany, which are already subject to the caps of national and European emissions trading systems. Installing heat pumps in the building stock will require high investments and thus make any emission reductions in the heat sector much more expensive than in other sectors. Furthermore, due to its command-and-control approach, the bill is incompatible with the central principles of the German Social Market Economy.

The New Buildings Energy Act

Wirtschaftsdienst

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Das neue Gebäudeenergiegesetz

The reform of the Buildings Energy Act is intended to increase the share of renewable energies in the heat sector. But the proposed measures (among which the...

The New Buildings Energy Act

Published Online: Sep 21, 2023

Page range: 619 - 623

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2023-0173

© 2023 Fritz Söllner, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.