The technocratic wing of the Greens, under Economics Minister Robert Habeck, proposed to mandate that all new heating systems installed after 2024 in Germany use no less than 65% renewable energy. In its original form, the law amounted to a de facto mandate to install heat pumps, and it would’ve entailed catastrophic renovation costs for the owners of many older buildings. In the end, Habeck had to sacrifice his powerful state secretary Patrick Graichen, and the legislation passed in modified but still pretty terrible form.

Yesterday, at a town hall event, somebody asked Habeck about the GEG, and he responded by saying that the first and most ruinous draft of the law was a test, to see how much the people would put up with: “The debate about the Building Energy Act, that is how we will heat in the future, was honestly a test of how far society is prepared to go in terms of climate protection when it becomes a reality.”

https://www.eugyppius.com/p/german-minister-admits-ruinous-home