Goodbye to oil – welcome to heat pumps
Almost three-quarters of new buildings in Germany are heated by heat pumps. Their share has more than doubled in the space of ten years. Over the same period, the share of oil has fallen dramatically.
Under the new Building Modernisation Act, oil and gas heating systems may be installed again. But who wants them anymore? German energy policy under Economics Minister Katherina Reiche is looking backwards, but the majority of people are thinking about the future.
Heat pumps use geothermal and environmental thermal energy for heating, which are classified as renewable energy sources.
Overall, the share of renewable energy in heating is also rising: according to the data, just under four in five newly built residential buildings (78.2 per cent) are now heated predominantly with renewable energy. In 2015, the figure was just 38 per cent. In addition to ground-source and air-source heat pumps, this includes wood – for example in pellet heating systems or wood-burning stoves – solar thermal energy, biogas and biomethane.
The second most important heat source in new buildings in 2025 was natural gas – though this was the case in only ten per cent of buildings. Ten years ago, the figure was 50 per cent. District heating is the third most important heating source, accounting for eight per cent. Oil heating systems were installed in just 0.3 per cent of new buildings in 2025.
The heating situation in existing buildings is quite different. Here, natural gas continues to dominate as the primary energy source. According to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, 53.9 per cent of residential buildings are heated with gas. Around a quarter of existing buildings use oil. Only just over ten per cent of existing buildings use renewable energies.
The buildings sector is so important in terms of energy use because it accounts for 45 per cent of total energy consumption. It is responsible for around a third of total CO2 emissions. Yet building renovation is progressing only slowly. The previous traffic-light coalition government under Economics Minister Robert Habeck wanted to speed up this process, but the Merz-Reiche coalition has scrapped the old targets and wants only 65 per cent renewable energy to be used.
A step backwards for climate protection. However, the rapid expansion of heat pumps in new buildings in this country is a ray of hope.
