Wärmewende: Allein private Haushalte müssen Grüngasquote bezahlen – Kosten im Papier offen

The federal Ministry of Economics has presented a milestone paper on a green gas and green heating oil quota. The quota will begin at a moderate level of one percent, according to the paper seen by the Handelsblatt, with the value set to apply in 2028. The quota will only apply to gas and heating oil used directly in private households to operate oil and gas heaters.

Industrial and commercial consumption, as well as the transport sector, and the generation of electricity and district heating are, according to the paper, excluded from the quota requirement. The distributors of gas and heating oil, i.e., fuel traders, are responsible for meeting the green gas and green heating oil quota, ensuring that a growing proportion of climate-neutral fuel is blended into the natural gas and heating oil they bring to the market.

The milestone paper does not comment on the costs. "Read also: The Drought Risks of the Green Gas Quota". The coalition government, as part of its agreement on the Building Modernization Act (GModG), has agreed on the introduction of the green gas quota. It applies to existing heaters. A component of the GModG is a "biostaircase", which only applies to gas and oil heaters that will be installed in the future.

These heaters must be operated with a higher proportion of climate-friendly fuels, such as biomethane. As the biostaircase prescribes significantly higher proportions of climate-friendly fuels, heating with new gas and oil heaters will be more expensive than heating with gas and oil in existing heaters. The biostaircase starts at ten percent, with three additional steps, reaching 60 percent by 2040.

The increase in the quota can be postponed. The milestone paper envisages the green gas and green heating oil quota doubling to two percent from 2029, reaching five percent in 2030, ten percent in 2032, 20 percent in 2035, 50 percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2045. However, the paper states that the increase in the quota could be delayed if market developments require it.

The fulfillment of the quota is to be made more flexible, meaning that an overfulfillment of the quota can be credited in the following year, while an underfulfillment can be compensated for in the subsequent year. Failure to meet the quota will result in a penalty payment. The introduction of the green gas quota is controversial.

A recent study by the German Energy Agency (Dena) concludes that the use of biomethane and other climate-friendly fuels can only be managed with a significant expansion of supply. Long-term, the potential demand in the building sector could significantly exceed domestic biomass capacities. Dena's study warns that consumer costs would rise noticeably with a growing proportion of climate-friendly fuels.

Supporters of the green gas quota, however, consider such scenarios unlikely. For instance, in a joint statement recently published by a coalition of more than 20 companies and associations from the energy sector, including Uniper and Sefe, the potential is highlighted: The much-discussed shortage of biomethane is "artificially created, arising from complex bureaucracy".

If more climate-friendly gases were used for heating, a market would emerge, production and trade would grow. With increasing supply and robust market structures, costs would decrease in the long term.