Directly from the dpa news channel
Munich (dpa) - In view of the heated debate about the extensive ban on oil and gas heating planned by the federal government, Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger is campaigning for hydrogen. "Hydrogen is often the only way to get away from fossil fuels in the foreseeable future, by 2030/35," said Aiwanger on Tuesday. The Free Voters boss opposed an alliance of environmentalists, the heat pump association, the IG Bau union, consumer advice centers and chimney sweeps who are opposed to hydrogen heating systems.
Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger in Amberg. Photo: Daniel Löb/dpa/Archive image (Photo: dpa)
The Economics Minister is an advocate of hydrogen use anyway. According to Aiwanger, one of the main advantages of switching to climate-neutral heating would be that the existing natural gas network could continue to be used after the conversion. "For example, Energie Schwaben wants to convert the gas network to hydrogen," he said. "The existing gas networks are an infrastructure worth billions, it would be fatal to throw that out and build new power systems."
From January 1, 2024, tens of thousands of owners of old natural gas heating systems would be faced with the question of "whether they should remodel the whole house at great expense and install a heat pump, or a new H2-ready gas heating system that can be gradually converted to hydrogen over the next few years without great effort."
Aiwanger accused the hydrogen opponents: "This one-sided ideological commitment to electricity and heat pumps is wrong." In many houses, especially older apartment buildings in the cities, the installation of heat pumps does not work properly.
The anti-hydrogen alliance, on the other hand, argues in a letter published on Tuesday that the conversion is technically and economically unfeasible. Even after 2030, hydrogen will remain a scarce and expensive commodity, so investing in a hydrogen-capable gas heating system could become a cost trap.
