Mapping Europe’s subsidies for fossil fuel heating systems
A new analysis shows that most EU governments pay millions of euro in subsidies to have new gas boilers installed in our homes, despite evidence that this is slowing down the uptake of renewable heat and undermining Europe’s 2030 climate goals.
Only seven countries in the EU have so far stopped the flood of public money going into fossil fuel heating as part of their climate or fiscal plans, the latest analysis by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) on behalf of Coolproducts shows. These include Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands. Outside of the EU, they are joined by Norway – see interactive map below.
At least 19 out of 27 EU governments still incentivise the purchase and/or installation of new gas boilers through various tax reductions, loans and grants, which range between €300 and €2,500 and are supposedly aimed at greening our homes.
State support for gas boilers, which can last up to 25 years, is slowing down the uptake of sustainable solutions such as heat pumps, renewable district heating and solar panels in the EU. In 2019, the share of geothermal, solar and other renewable sources of energy used in the heating and cooling sector was a mere 6% of the sector’s final energy consumption.*
This is jeopardising Europe’s climate targets. The European Commission estimates that a 40% reduction in gas heating emissions is needed to achieve the EU goal of slashing total emissions by at least 55% in the next decade.
