Four out of ten heating systems in MV older than 20 years
More than four out of ten heating systems in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are more than 20 years old, according to a study by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). A good fifth are even older than 25 years. This means that the north-east is lagging well behind the national average when it comes to modernizing heating systems: according to the data for Germany presented by BDEW a week ago, around one in three heating systems nationwide is more than 20 years old.
Changes on the heating market are only happening slowly due to the long replacement cycles of heating systems, said Kerstin Andreae, Chairwoman of the BDEW Executive Board, at the presentation of the study "How does Germany heat?". Nevertheless, the trend basically shows: "Gas and oil are on the decline, heat pumps and district heating are on the rise." Old and therefore inefficient heating systems are a major problem for greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector, according to the BDEW. The building sector accounts for around 30 percent of German CO2 emissions.
On average, heating systems in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are 15.7 years old, slightly more than in 2019 and 1.8 years more than the national average. According to the BDEW figures, there are major differences between the various technologies: oil heating systems are on average 21.2 years old in the north-east, gas central heating systems are 12.4 years old and the other heating systems combined are 15.2 years old. There has been a "very big shift" from oil to gas, said Andreae. After all, until two years ago, politicians were still promoting gas as a more climate-friendly alternative. Then came Russia's attack on Ukraine, and Germany broke away from its most important natural gas supplier.
German households heat their homes very differently depending on the region. While gas heating systems are the most popular in the north-west, oil plays a major role in the south. District heating is more common in the north and east than in the rest of the country. This can also be seen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: 38 percent of heating there is district heating, compared to only 15.2 percent nationwide. Gas heating systems are in second place with 31.8 percent, significantly less than the national average of 48.3 percent. At 17.4 percent, oil heating also plays a smaller role in MV than in Germany as a whole.
The governing coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP wants to ensure that heating in Germany becomes more climate-friendly with the Building Energy Act (GEG) and municipal heat planning. The GEG aims to gradually make heating in Germany more climate-friendly by replacing oil and gas heating systems. It stipulates that in future, every newly installed heating system should be operated with 65% renewable energy. The law will initially only apply to new builds from 2024.
Consumers in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are using outdated heating systems more often than the national average, with over four out of ten systems being over 20 years old. The reliance on these energy-inefficient systems contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, as the building sector accounts for around 30% of German CO2 emissions.
Source: www.dpa.com
