Gas industry lobbying hard against EU boiler phaseout, leaked emails suggest
Europe’s gas industry has embarked on an intensive lobbying operation to try to hinder the phaseout of gas boilers under forthcoming changes to EU legislation, leaked emails suggest.
Gas companies want to keep gas boilers in operation to protect their current market, and to enable them to adapt into what they see as potential new “green” gas markets, in biofuels and hydrogen, despite serious concerns over their viability.
Leaked emails, obtained by the investigative journalism outlet DeSmog as part of a project funded by Journalismfund.eu, and seen by the Guardian, show the industry attempting to introduce loopholes into the legislation that would allow the continued sale of boilers.
The emails, and information from the European parliament on lobbying meetings and conferences, indicate that the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) industry has taken the lead on the lobbying effort.
LPG is the name given to butane and propane, fossil fuels that are byproducts of oil and gas extraction and refining. The canisters and tanks have been a mainstay of rural communities across Europe that are off the gas grid and have limited heating options.
About 16.8 million people in the EU use LPG, about 4% of the population. The LPG industry is represented by Liquid Gas Europe, a trade organisation that has held a series of high-profile events and closed-door meetings with members of the European parliament in recent months.
Their focus is on EU legislation known as the Energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD), which governs how homes can be insulated and heated across the bloc and which is up for revision. Proposed changes will be voted on by the European parliament next week.
One aim of the revision is to encourage the phaseout of gas boilers.
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