The executive is backtracking. In the middle of the summer season, the threat of a ban on gas boilers by 2026, a time mentioned by the government in the name of ecological transition, goes up in smoke. “There will be no ban on gas boilers. On the other hand, we are going to remove the aid that remained and play on the incentives to use other heating solutions”, assured a member of the government quoted by our colleagues from the Echoesconfirming information published in the week by media Context.
In question: the outcry of construction professionals and consumers. Friday, July 28 ended a consultation launched in early June by the government to find solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from construction, a sector responsible for 18% of CO2 emissions in France – half of which comes gas heating. But the government is in no hurry to communicate on this subject, fixing a speech for “the fall”, once “all the contributions have been studied and synthesized”, declared to AFP the ministry of the Energetic transition. A new council of Ecological Transition is however planned for September, said Thursday evening the economic daily.
Why this backtracking? In June, the government considered banning the installation of new natural gas or LPG boilers. Its objective was clear: to reduce the building’s CO2 emissions to 30 million tonnes (Mt) in 2030, against 76 in 2022. But other voices emerged and the executive gave in. At the head of the slingers, Jean-Christophe Repon, president of the Confederation of crafts and small building companies (Capeb), who toured the media to assert his position.
In an interview with the newspaper Opinion on June 13, he argued that “the ban on gas boilers risked the disappearance of a sector of French excellence”, while inviting the government “to listen to good craftsmanship”. Same speech held on May 29 on France Info, then the next day on BFMTV. At the end of July, the president of Capeb drove the point home on France Inter: “The government heavily subsidized the gas boiler until last year. There are jobs behind it. It is unthinkable to imagine retraining 210,000 installers in such a short time.”
“A lacunary project” for UFC Que Choisir
On the consumer side, the government is told that replacing a gas boiler can be technically or financially difficult. UFC Que Choisir judged, in a report published on July 27, “potentially very expensive” the installation of electric heat pumps or biomass boilers. The association denounced a “lacunate project, with an uncertain environmental record, and potentially very costly for consumers […] We are therefore asking the government to take into account the reality on the ground!” Currently, 12 million households are heated by gas, including 5 million in individual houses, 3.5 million in collective housing with individual heating and 3.5 million in collective heating, i.e. a total of nearly 40% of households, estimates UFC Que Choisir.
Before the gas boiler, the executive had focused on other projects, such as banning the installation of oil boilers. In addition, those running on gas are prohibited in new buildings only. At a rate of replacement of end-of-life boilers of 400,000 to 450,000 per year, “about 3 million” will have to be replaced “by 2030”, calculates Cécile Prévieu, deputy general manager of the Engie group, the leading gas supplier. natural in France, cited by AFP. On the market, a trend is also starting to take shape: sales of gas and fuel oil boilers have decreased by 29%, while those of air/water heat pumps have increased by 30% during the year 2022. , has reported Uniclimathe union of the thermal, aeraulic and refrigeration industries.
While the objective is to achieve a completely neutral economy in CO2 emissions by 2050, in accordance with European commitments, Engie wants to continue to bet on gas to ensure this transition. For this, the gas giant has brought to the debate its own compromise proposal, saying it supports the development of “hybrid” boilers, a solution coupling a high-performance gas boiler with an electric heat pump with intelligent regulation. On Tuesday July 25, Engie said it was also pleading for “incentive” solutions rather than “prohibition”.
Towards hybrid boilers?
This solution is encouraged in neighboring countries such as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, notes the manufacturer, and could lead to a reduction in energy consumption by 40%, and in CO2 emissions from the sector. by 70%. Hybrid boilers would also make it possible, according to Engie, to “not overstress” the French electrical system during cold snaps. Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher also hinted last Tuesday on RMC that we were going to “rely on hybrid boilers”, using electricity for domestic hot water and heating in the intermediate seasons, and gas for the peaks of winter cold.
Consumers have to pay the bill. For this, Engie is asking for financial efforts from the State. The group resulting from the merger between Suez and Gaz de France wants an extension of the “heating boost” bonus (or CEE device) for heat pump installations added to existing gas boilers in order to hybridize the system. Engie is also asking for the maintenance of a reduced VAT rate on the installation of high-performance gas boilers in dwellings “not compatible with hybrid boilers”, and the introduction of a reduced VAT on biomethane, therefore that this green gas would represent more than 50% of the gas used.
For the government, this debate falls all the more badly as the Elysée has just acquired a gas boiler for 100,000 euros, revealed a report from the Court of Auditors in mid-July. In the midst of decarbonization, such energy choices cast doubt on the intentions of the executive. In Europe, more broadly, the issue of gas boilers is a hot topic. Several governments nearly fell because of this unpopular measure. Like the German coalition. The Boiler War caused a serious government crisis between Olaf Scholz’s social democratic party, the favorable Greens, and the reluctant liberal party over the timetable and funding. Ditto in the Netherlands, where the executive has backtracked.
Heat pumps made in Asia
Even among supporters of decarbonization, the government’s initiative has not won unanimous support. A collective of twenty-five organizations had written to the government a letter, on June 7, in which he warned against the installation of “8 to 9 million additional heat pumps (HP) planned by 2030 without guarantee of insulation measures, and without analysis of the consequences on the network electricity, with an excessive risk of fraud”. Among the reasons to say no, the fact that heat pumps are of Asian origin, while a large number of gas boiler brands are French – or European.
In addition, these heat pumps must be accompanied by specific conditions, such as the insulation of housing, consider certain players. “Aid for the acquisition and installation of heat pumps should be conditional on compliance with technical criteria (temperature regime of transmitters of 55°C maximum) guaranteeing their operation and their efficiency whatever the outside temperature, and therefore systematically associated to an efficient energy renovation, global or in stages”, explained a note technical assistance from the négaWatt Association and the CLER – Réseau. The latter also points out that it is impossible to install heat pumps everywhere. To decarbonize, several solutions are therefore still being studied.