✅ Ban on Gas Heating Across the European Union - Sensational Reports ... But Is It True? Is This the End of Gas Heating?
Recently, there has been information circulating that the European Union wants to ban gas heating in the EU member countries. How is a ban on gas heating possible when just a few years ago gas was promoted as a cleaner alternative to traditional boilers, and the biggest player in the EU, Germany, invested huge resources in transmission infrastructure and made a world-scale investment in Nord Stream 2?
How is it possible to introduce a complete ban on gas heating when many people recently invested in gas heating systems, making substantial investments, and the state is still investing in new gas pipelines, connecting more streets and even villages to the transmission network?
✅ Let’s check what the European Commission’s directive actually says about the ban on installing gas boilers and the prohibition of gas heating - and whether it is really as it is portrayed. Is it still worth investing in a gas boiler? You will find out in the article below.
The EU Building Directive, known as the EPBD Directive (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive), is a problematic document that causes anxiety among gas boiler users. It mandates EU countries to prepare legislation aimed at achieving so-called climate goals, steering the country's energy system towards so-called climate neutrality, which, according to the document, we are to achieve by 2050 at the latest.
The EPBD Directive is the same directive that aims to force households to increase the energy efficiency of buildings so that they become zero-emission or low-emission. But what does the EPBD Directive specifically say about the ban on gas heating? Is it explicitly and clearly stated? Let’s take a closer look.
✅ How does the EPBD Directive address the installation of gas boilers and their potential ban?
The gas heating ban does not directly stem from the content of the EPBD Directive. However, it will become more challenging, especially concerning the installation of gas heating in newly built homes. The directive sets several key deadlines:
The year 2025 in the EPBD Directive's schedule means that EU countries will be prohibited from conducting subsidy programs for gas boilers. If you were hoping for a grant for a gas boiler, this will no longer be possible after 2025, as the EU has suddenly deemed gas to be non-ecological, despite previously considering it to be and even heavily subsidizing it. Many believe this change of heart occurred precisely when the strongest player in the EU, Germany, failed in its major project of organizing gas brokerage and sales to weaker partners within the EU, which is related to the war in Ukraine and the failure of Nord Stream 2.
However, this does not yet mean an absolute ban on installing gas boilers; there simply won't be subsidies for them. Additionally, the EPBD Directive text provides several exceptions to the subsidy ban rule for buildings where it is not possible to install alternative heat sources related to renewable energy sources (RES). Each such case will, of course, need to be assessed individually, which is expected to lead to increased bureaucracy.
In 2028, the provision of the building directive concerning the ban on installing new gas boilers in public buildings will come into effect. This specifically refers to state and municipal buildings, meaning new gas boilers will no longer be installed in offices, post offices, schools, swimming pools, etc. However, it will still be possible to install them in homes.
In 2030, a provision from the EPBD directive concerning private buildings would come into effect, meaning a ban on installing gas boilers in homes.
✅ Let's clarify - in 2030, there will be no ban on gas heating in Ireland or other EU countries. According to the EPBD directive, in 2030, EU member states should introduce laws prohibiting the installation of new gas boilers in private buildings, similar to the ban on installing gas boilers in public buildings that would come into effect two years earlier. Those who installed gas boilers earlier will continue to use them.
✅ The ban on installation does not mean the necessity of dismantling previously installed boilers.
✅ It is likely that gas boilers can still be installed as an addition to heat pumps or electric boilers (i.e., sources drawing from renewable energy sources). There are significant ambiguities in the EPBD directive text, with many lawyers pointing to the possibility of interpreting it in this way. The directive explicitly requires new homes to have at least one heat source based on renewable energy sources. Hybrid systems combining gas heating with, for example, a heat pump may still be possible.
Why are we discussing this in a vague and unclear manner? Because the EPBD directive itself does not constitute law. The directive sets a direction for legislative authorities in every member state - like Ireland, Poland, France etc., but the final version of the law implementing this directive will be adopted by the parliament. According to political practice, individual countries will negotiate with the European Commission to obtain so-called transition periods and exemptions from some provisions.
✅ The implementation of a ban on installing gas boilers in private homes by 2030 is not certain, especially as the Green Deal has garnered many opponents in various EU countries.
In 2040, the phase-out of fossil fuel boilers from homes in EU societies is planned to conclude. This includes CO boilers using fossil fuels, such as gas boilers using natural gas. This is crucial because if a boiler uses a mix of natural gas and bio-components, it may likely bypass the ban.
✅ Legal analyses suggest that only buildings undergoing thorough thermal modernization to ensure zero emissions will be required to eliminate gas boilers.
✅ There is a significant chance that even after 2040, the mandatory dismantling of gas boilers may not occur.
This is what the directive text states, meaning that by this time, all buildings should become zero-emission, undergoing comprehensive thermal modernization. The term "zero emissions" sounds quite good, but no one has calculated how much this will cost the average citizen. It is undoubtedly passed light-heartedly by people out of touch with normal life. For many, the cost of thoroughly modernizing their home to make it zero-emission could be as high as 200-300 thousand EUR. Additionally, there will be increased tax burdens because public buildings will also need to be thermally modernized. Unless, of course, we return to the idea of volunteer work.
A brief, perhaps unnecessary, digression: Setting mythical (i.e., unachievable) goals and writing them into law seems characteristic of political systems where power is held for long periods by people disconnected from normal life and the realities of the middle or lower classes. Declaring that the European Union will be zero-emission by 2050 (which many scientists consider unattainable) is reminiscent of when the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the 1960s declared that by 1970, their grain production would surpass that of the USA. In 1970, the gap between American and Soviet agricultural productivity had, unfortunately, only widened. Similarly, the CPSU in 1982 declared that by 2000, the USSR would achieve communism—a state where everyone would be happy and rich, and private property would be unnecessary (they believed they hadn't achieved communism yet). We know how that ended: the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991 as an economically unviable entity. Hopefully, the EU's push for such massive investments will end differently.
It is very likely that the gas boiler ban will only apply to boilers fully powered by natural gas, recognized—rightly so—as a fossil fuel. However, there is a chance that suppliers will find a way around this because blends of natural gas and bio-components will not be considered fossil fuels.
Unless the EU hardens its stance on this issue, a small admixture of bio-components (e.g., 5-10%) will likely render such gas heating systems as ecological. Absurd? Certainly, but this likely means that a complete ban on gas boilers will not be enforced.
It seems so. The building directive is valid for Ireland - but has typical features of an unrealistic document, which has stirred many negative emotions. As we see, its assumptions are not as rigid as presented; the European Commission has left many loopholes for circumventing these regulations. These will be mitigated both in Brussels and in national parliaments, which will seek ways to implement the directive with minimal harm to their voters.
The concern about the necessity to eliminate or dismantle a gas boiler is definitely premature. The situation should be monitored, and decisions should be made later when there is a clearer picture of the EU's direction and the implementation process of this directive in various EU countries.
In our assessment, there is no need to worry yet, and we will be able to use gas heating for many more years, long enough to reach the end of a gas boiler's lifespan.
BLOG:
How to choose a heat exchanger for a gas boiler?
Which plate heat exchanger for a 20 kW boiler?
Cleaning and maintaining the heat exchanger
Mixing valves, three-way, four-way - what exactly are they?
How to choose a pellet stove for your home?
Electric boiler in a central heating installation - as the main or additional heat source.
Leave a comment