Green houses, Brussels relaunches stop on boilers from 2040

Putting concrete actions on track that will lead to abandoningmethane boilers by 2040. The European Commission is relaunching its political action on the Green Homes Directive (the Epbd, Energy performance of buildings directive). It does so with the publication of the most substantial regulatory package since the approval of the framework standard that aims to reduce emissions from the building stock by 2050: 13 guidelines and three further technical regulations. Within them, all the key steps of the Epbd are analysed and clarified. And, among these, the (very delicate) one related to the deadlines for boilers.

With regard to boilers solely fuelled by fossil fuels (this is the definition of the directive) we must remember two key dates: the first, which has already become operative with the last Budget Law, is that of 2025, which envisages the end of tax benefits for these appliances; the second, reworked several times and postponed during the approval of the text, is that of 2040. Member states must move towards the complete elimination of boilers powered by fossil fuels by 2040. The target is only indicative - the guidelines themselves reiterate this - but the Commission is keen to demand concrete action from the member states, without letting that deadline fall by the wayside.

"Member countries have an obligation," the document explains, "to implement credible policies and measures with a view to achieving complete phase-out of fossil fuels" by 2040. Brussels can hold them to account for their plans on this front.

But what should they actually do? The document very clearly identifies two lines of action. The first is the obvious one: 'Replace all or part of the single boilers with alternative solutions'. These include heat pumps,solar thermal and district heating systems. Alternatively, or in addition to this path, another is possible: replacing fossil fuels used in boilers with renewable alternatives, such as biomethane and hydrogen. We must, that is, act decarbonising the grid.

Fossil fuel-fired boilers are, for the Commission, those that physically burn methane: on this point, too, the guidelines are very explicit. If, on the other hand, the network makes a different gas available to those appliances, the Epbd restrictions are also lifted. The European Commission imagines that these two paths, combined, could lead to the 2040 target and contribute to the directive's targets.