Green Gas Quota Paves the Way for Climate-Neutral Heating

• Germany’s biomethane sector has sufficient potential for green gases to meet the green gas quota with a gradually increasing supply
• A moderate start, liquid trading and flexible quota rules are intended to limit costs and gradually enable the use of renewable and low-carbon gases.
• Kehler: “The BMWE’s proposals enable a pragmatic and low-bureaucracy implementation of the key policy points presented by the governing parties at the start of the year.”

The gas and hydrogen industry welcomes the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs’ implementation plans for the introduction of a green gas quota. The concept paves the way for gradually supplying existing gas heating systems with renewable and low-carbon fuels. The association sees this as an important complement to the electrification of the heating sector. In today’s dialogue between the association and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, it became clear that the aim is to implement the scheme with minimal market intervention and manageable additional costs for customers.

With the planned green gas quota, the Federal Government is paving the way for existing gas heating systems to be operated in a climate-neutral manner on a step-by-step basis. The phased roll-out envisaged by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs opens up new sales opportunities for renewable and low-carbon gases, thereby providing companies with an incentive to invest in additional production capacity. At the same time, homeowners are given a further opportunity to reduce the emissions from their heating systems without necessarily having to replace their heating systems. “During today’s dialogue with industry associations, it became clear that the quota levels, supply volumes and infrastructure are aligned, and that the Ministry is steering towards a pragmatic implementation,” explained Dr Timm Kehler, Chief Executive of the German Gas and Hydrogen Industry Association. “The green gas quota brings more choice to the heating transition. People themselves are best placed to judge which heating system makes sense for their home. This will help restore peace to the boiler rooms.”

Green gas quota and heat pumps complement each other

In the association’s view, the green gas quota is not in competition with heat pumps. Where switching to a heat pump makes technical and economic sense, it will remain the most attractive solution in future too. However, not every building can be easily electrified, and not every gas heating system will be able to be replaced by 2045. In these cases, the green gas quota offers an additional option: existing heating systems can continue to be used, and the fuels employed can gradually become climate-neutral. Kehler: “In this way, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs is pragmatically implementing the coalition’s agreements on a technology-neutral heating transition. Rather than prescribing a specific heating solution to people, they are given more options to choose the solution that suits their building.”

Green gases are available and supply can grow

The green gas quota does not start from scratch. Considerable quantities of biogas and biomethane are already being produced in Germany today. In 2025 alone, around 12.3 terawatt-hours of biomethane were fed into the gas grid, and thousands more existing biogas plants are awaiting connection to the gas grid. There is further potential in imports. The green gas quota creates the reliable demand needed to increasingly tap into this potential.

Hydrogen can also make an important contribution to the green gas quota. For instance, the possibility of crediting hydrogen from industry creates a win-win situation. This provides industry with a further incentive to drive the roll-out of hydrogen, whilst the supply of green gas for heating customers increases. Here, too, it is now crucial to design the crediting system to be as flexible and unbureaucratic as possible.