Ban on the sale of gas or fossil-fueled boilers from 2029? This is the direction proposed by the REPowerEU plan, to accelerate the ecological transition in Europe. But what would happen if this line of action, on which it is still possible to intervene at the moment, became a full-fledged regulation?
As we have already seen in this article, REPowerEU is the plan presented by the European Commission with the aim of reducing the dependence of the Member States on fossil fuels, reducing gas demand by 15% already in the coming months.
In addition to saving energy and diversifying supply (especially after the geopolitical tensions of recent months), another key point of the plan is to accelerate the transition to clean energy, limiting both the use and the sale of devices that use fossil fuels as a source of power, including gas boilers.
Gas boilers today
At present, gas boilers mainly use methane gas to operate, but too many ignore, however, that most of the new boilers are also designed to operate with sustainable gas mixtures, such as hydrogen, up to 20%, and that these gases can be injected directly into the natural gas network, and therefore can already be used by most of the existing technologies. But that’s not all: even gas heat pumps are already available today to be fueled with mixtures of fossil gas and hydrogen, in low percentages.
Furthermore, some projects, such as HARP, are incentivising users to use more efficient heating technologies.
Therefore, limiting the sale of gas boilers as early as 2029 would be too hasty and could lead to the exclusion of a wide range of efficient technologies already on the market, such as the hybrid ready and green gas ready, which we have mentioned.
Alberto Montanini, president of Assotermica (Association of manufacturers of appliances and components for heating systems federated with Anima Confindustria), commented:
“First of all, it should be remembered that at the moment the indication contained in REPowerEU consists exclusively of a guideline, subject to changes and revisions and without direct effects. In the hypothesis that this guideline is transformed into legislation, it is important to reiterate that such a prohibition would be premature and drastic, because it would not take into account the fact that companies in our sector have long been engaged in the design and production of efficiency-oriented systems energy, which represent an excellent solution in view of the fundamental green transition. As Assotermica, we hope that instead we will proceed in the direction of a multi-technological and multi-energy approach, which will encourage the diffusion of the most recent hybrid ready and green gas ready technologies, which are already ready to operate with growing mixtures of biofuels and hydrogen. The solution to obtain the desired results in terms of energy independence and ecological transition is to allow the coexistence of several types of appliances, also to avoid the risk of creating a secondary market for obsolete, inefficient and unsafe appliances, which will continue to remain in many homes”.
As we have already seen here, both boiler manufacturers and the distribution network are already actively moving towards a green transition that can be respectful of the environment, but also by exploiting functioning, existing and competitive technologies and infrastructures.
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