All new homes built in Germany from January 1st 2009 will be required to install renewable energy heating systems under a new law called the Renewable Energies Heating Law (Erneubare-Energien-Warmegesetz).
The government is allocating 350 million euros [US $517 million] each year in grants for homeowners to install renewable energy systems such as solar panels, wood pellet stoves and boilers and heat pumps.
Homeowners will have to use renewable energy sources to meet 14% of a household's total energy consumption for heating and domestic hot water.
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Heating buildings accounts for 40% of the total energy consumption in the country. Renewables currently account for about 6% of the energy sources used for heating buildings.
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It is estimated that updating energy performance in buildings could save 50 billion euros [US $73.9 billion] in heating costs in Germany up to 2020....
According to a German government source, houses built in the 1960s use on average four times more energy for heating than updated, energy-efficient houses, which need 5 to 6 liters of heating oil for each square meter a year.
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Most homeowners are expected to choose solar panels.
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Fines of up to 500,000 euros [US $739,000] will face anyone who fails to switch their heating systems.
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The ... law ... is part of a comprehensive package of measures that aims to reduce the country's carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 when compared to 1990.
It is estimated that the package will cost 31 billion euros [US $45.8 billion] a year to implement. But the costs will be offset by savings of 36 billion euros [US $53.2 billion] a year from lower bills for coal, oil and gas.
by Jane Burgermeister, freelance writer based in Vienna, Austria.
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=50746
Renewableenergyworld.com
December 10, 2007
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