Consumer preferences for renewable gas options: Qualitative insights into the German heating market

One of the key social aspects of renewable energy use is consumer demand. In the residential heating sector, where long-lived fossil-fuel systems are slow to be replaced, consumer demand for drop-in renewable gases like biomethane or Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) could play an important role in short-term decarbonization. As this sector is a major emitter of CO2 in Europe, robust green demand could be key to fulfilling the targets set in the Paris Agreement. Yet existing research focuses on the supply side and technical aspects of renewable gases, leaving the demand side and consumer preferences for these gases largely neglected. To close this gap, we conducted a qualitative study based on two empirical strands: 22 interviews with heating consumers, and a set of interviews and focus groups with 27 industry experts. The study was situated in Germany, which as one of the world’s largest biogas producers is a society with a history of relations with renewable gas technologies. Our results show that choosing a heating option is a low-involvement decision, but one made by a complex calculus where the environmental benefits of renewable gases count positively, but large-scale biogas production and perceived energy crop monocultures count negatively. SNG is still largely unknown and regarded neutrally. Industry experts evaluate voluntary markets for renewable gases as small, cost-driven and made up of consumers weaned on low-cost products. Our results can help policy makers worldwide support voluntary renewable energy markets and provide energy practitioners with approaches to increasing consumer engagement with their product