Ottmar Edenhofer, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, has proposed a levy on new oil and gas heating units in line with the building‑modernisation law that the black‑red coalition plans to pass. He told the “Tagesspiegel Background” service that the tax would price the cumulative emissions that the new heating system would generate. Over the 20‑year life of the heater the cost could amount to about €50 per tonne of CO₂.
Edenhofer admits the idea would be politically hard to enforce, but argues that if the price of green gas were to double or even triple by 2045 compared with today’s natural‑gas price, the levy would not be a surcharge but a safeguard against huge cost spikes that households otherwise would face.
He called the draft law a “disaster”, yet is confident a revision will come in the near future. “Measures must then be put in place to prevent the cementation of emissions that would arise from a mass roll‑out of new oil and gas heaters and that would impose high costs on tenants and owners for decades”.
On the federal government’s new climate‑protection programme, Edenhofer said it is “not really satisfactory”. He estimates a gap of 85 - 102 million tonnes of CO₂‑equivalent must be closed by 2040. “We need to talk now about how to close this massive gap” he added. The programme, he argues, treats the shortfalls in buildings and transport sectors too lightly.
