Regulations: Germany

An integrated plan comprising 14 separate legislative measures, built around the overall target to reduce GHG emissions by 40% by 2020, is the world's most ambitious national environment package so far. If all the measures are implemented in time, the Ministry of Environment hopes to double Germany's GHG emission reductions from the current 18% to 36% compared to 1990 levels. Concerning refrigerants, a new "Chemicals & Climate Protection Act" based on the EU "F-gas" Regulation 842/2006, which is to be implemented under national law as of July 4, 2008: Maximum limits for systems installed after June 30, 2008 are 1% per year for systems containing more than 100 kg of fluorinated refrigerant, 2% if the charge is 10-100 kg and 3% if the charge is less than 10 kg. For older systems, the requirements are slightly less stringent. Heat pumps and other renewable heating solutions will be supported by the law on heating through renewable energy which specifies that by 2020, 14% of all heating will have to come from renewable energies. The law requires a minimum COP of 3.3 for electrically-driven air-water heat pumps and a COP of 4.0 for water-water heat pumps.