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Germany’s roadmap and the transition away from fossil fuels

Germany has published its Roadmap for Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, setting out the policy framework and key strategies to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. The roadmap places strong emphasis on renewable electricity, electrification and energy efficiency, while recognising that climate-neutral fuels will also be needed where direct electrification is not yet technically or economically viable. [Roadmap, pp. 3–8]

Germany’s new Building Modernisation Act is described as technology-neutral and allows different heating options. For domestic liquid heating, an important element is the requirement that households installing a new oil or gas heating system after 29 July 2026 will progressively have to use higher shares of carbon-neutral fuels from 2029, reaching 60% from 2040. [Roadmap, p. 14]

The roadmap also refers to proposed legislation introducing a green gas/green heat quota. Under this proposal, suppliers of gas, oil and liquefied natural gas would in future be required to ensure that, from 2045, the fuels used for heating buildings are entirely climate neutral. The same section of the roadmap sets out the parallel decarbonisation pathway for heat networks, with renewable or unavoidable waste heat required to reach at least 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2040, before heat networks become fully climate-neutral by 2045. [Roadmap, p. 14]

For Eurofuel members, this is an important development. The German approach is not simply about replacing all existing heating systems with one technology. Alongside electrification, renovation and heat networks, the roadmap envisages a policy framework in which the fuels used in heating progressively change as well.

This is particularly relevant for liquid heating in existing and off-grid buildings. The roadmap explicitly recognises that climate-neutral fuels have a role where direct electrification is not yet technically or economically viable. This creates a clear policy rationale for continuing to develop renewable liquid fuel solutions that can contribute to the decarbonisation of existing heating systems. [Roadmap, p. 8]

For Eurofuel, Germany’s roadmap therefore sends a clear message: electrification will be a major part of the heating transition, but it is not the only element of the policy framework. The proposed green gas/green heat quota, together with the progressive requirements for new oil and gas heating systems, underlines the growing importance of the fuel itself and of developing suitable renewable alternatives.