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The government wants to ban new oil, coal and gas heaters from 2023, extending to replacements of existing heaters, but it needs a two-thirds majority in parliament.
Austria’s building sector performs way above the EU average. While buildings consume 25% of gas, their emissions are just 13% of the country’s total. With the country largely dependent on Russian gas, experts had urged action to speed up the move away from gas.
“Real independence, real security, will only come about once we free ourselves from the dependence on Russian gas,” explained Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler.
“This can be achieved, but we must switch to alternatives as quickly as possible,” she added.
For buildings, switching heaters would mean relying on “known technologies.” Heat pumps, solar thermal and district heating are generally assumed to be optimal heat sources. In Austria, biomass-based pellet heaters are also popular with people and policymakers.
As of 2023, fossil heaters are banned from new buildings and broken oil and coal heating systems must be replaced with climate-friendly heaters as of 2025.
Starting with oil heating systems built before 1980, the government has set the target of no private oil and coal heaters until 2035, and before 2040, all gas heating must be replaced.
The new renewable heat law requires a two-thirds majority in parliament as it will change the country’s constitution.
