No more warming with natural gas from 2030 - climate reporter °

An green electricity pioneer like EWS Schönau is not immune to errors.In the first phase of the energy transition, the use of natural gas in the heating area was "propagated as a sensible building block", EWS board member Sebastian Sladek recently admitted.

The hope was that natural gas would displace the even more harmful energy source oil and coal.This is how environmental organizations like Greenpeace also introduced themselves.

In the meantime you can see it pretty differently."Natural gas cannot be a component of a climate -neutral heat turnaround - and does not have to be," emphasized Sladek in the middle of the month when presenting a "roadmap for the gas exit in the heat sector".

The timetable was drawn up in the EWS order from the Thinktank Forum Ecological-Social Market Economy (Fös).And as if she wanted to radically forget the old position in a way, the investigation showed: Germany could get out of the natural gas in the heat sector by 2030.

The first remedy would be a price surcharge. Der nationale CO₂-Preis sei zwar ein erster Schritt, aber noch immer seien knapp drei Viertel der durch Erdgas im Gebäudesektor entstehenden Klimakosten nicht eingepreist, erläuterte Studienautorin Isabel Schrems vom FÖS.

The "real" natural gas price for households would then have to be around half higher at 9.1 to 9.6 cents per kilowatt hour than the current gas price for households.The study put it with around 6.1 cents.Estimates of the natural gas industry itself come to seven cents for 2021.

Um die Klimakosten von Erdgas real widerzuspiegeln, müsste der CO₂-Preis bis 2030 ziemlich steil ansteigen – laut Roadmap auf etwa 215 Euro je Tonne CO₂. Wenn das die nationale CO₂-Bepreisung, die sich ab 2026 nach dem Markt richten soll, nicht hergebe, müssten entsprechende Mindestpreise her.

The study could then continue to flow back as "attractive exchange bonuses for gas heating".The natural gas would then pay its abolition in a way.

Methahan slip and methane leaks

One reason for the rather high climate costs of the gas and the rapidly necessary exit are the withdrawal of methane to the atmosphere.So far, these would still be taken into account too little, emphasized Schrems.

Methan is a strong greenhouse gas.In order to be able to correctly assess the amount that gets into the atmosphere, there is no independent measurements and studies, the study complains about.

A distinction is made between methane leaks and methane slip.Sugging is spoken when methane escapes when natural gas burns."The data situation is bad here," said Schrems.The methahants slip in combustion processes in Germany cannot currently be quantified.

It looks hardly better with the leaks.They appear along the supply chain of natural gas: when it comes to promotion, preparation, transport, distribution and storage.Methane gets into the air from boreholes as well as leaks from the pipelines and compressor stations.Gas is also deliberately drained off, for example when maintaining and repairing the lines.

Die Klimawirkung der Methanemissionen im deutschen Wärmesektor geben Schrems und ihre Mitautoren deswegen mit der Spannbreite von jährlich 4,4 bis 20 Millionen Tonnen CO₂-Äquivalent an. Genauer bestimmbar sind die CO₂-Emissionen, die durch die Erdgasverbrennung in dem Sektor entstehen – für Raum- und Fernwärme sowie Warmwasser.According to the study, there are around 87 million tons annually.

So there is now the climate effect of methane emissions. Die Studie beziffert entsprechend die gesamten CO₂-Emissionen im Raumwärmesektor auf jährlich 91,5 bis 107 Millionen Tonnen CO₂.This is a eighth until a seventh of the current German greenhouse gas emissions.

As a first step, an investment stop

In any case, the study shows that the real climate costs are far higher than the current price due to natural gas, emphasized Fös boss Carolin Schenuit.These costs to be inserted as soon as possible is indicated in a climate policy urgent.

The price alone will not judge, Schenuit continues.Orderspolitical and planning law measures would also be used to exit the natural gas.

The timetable lists some such instruments: stricter efficiency requirements for buildings, minimum shares for renewable heat in building stock, installation ban for gas heating and "re -sharpening" of the obligation to replace.

But nobody has to freeze because of this.The FöS study puts the technical potential of renewable warmth for almost twice the energy consumption in the heat sector in 2030.Sufficient alternatives are available: solar thermal, biomass, environmental heat, geothermal energy, waste heat and more.

"It is very likely that in Germany there can be enough renewable warmth for the building area at the end of the decade.By 2030, the exit from the use of all fossil energy sources is feasible, including natural gas, "fed author Schrems summarized the result when the examination was presented.

A first step would be for Schrems not to further expand the natural gas infrastructure.According to the study, Germany is currently the country with the second highest planned gas investments in Europe.More than 18 billion euros would be estimated for power plants, gas networks and liquid gas terminals, the study quotes from relevant sources.

Incidentally, hydrogen as a heating alternative does not occur in the roadmap.This is based on the enormous uncertainty as to when and where which amounts of green hydrogen would be available.In addition, the already known alternatives would have enough potential and are easier to develop than hydrogen.

As EWS board member Sladek himself stands in hydrogen, the Roadmap presented could not be found out.In any case, under certain conditions at EWS Schönau, it is possible to apply for an investment grant for the use of fuel cells that use hydrogen or natural gas to generate electricity and heat.

Editorial note: EWS board member Sebastian Sladek is a member of the edge of the climate reporter °