The Dutch government has set a target of ensuring one in four Dutch homes no longer relies on gas for heating or cooking by 2030, according to Diederik Samsom, the former Labour party leader who is part of the team charged with negotiating the energy transition.

Instead, homes will be heated via geo-thermal pumps or sustainable city heating networks which either generate heat directly or use excess heat from industry, Samsom says.

Samson has been asked by the government to reach agreement on the necessary measures with business and interest groups. In an interview with Trouw he describes the target as ‘realistic and ambitious’.

In the first year of the project, 50,000 homes should be cut off from gas and the rate of transition ramped up in the following years. In addition, no more new homes should be connected to the gas network, Samsom says.

In Amsterdam, for example, two new residential districts are being built without gas and some 70,000 homes in the city are already on district heating networks.

Relatively new, well insulated homes can start running on heat pumps and electricity – preferably green energy from wind turbines and solar panels. For older districts that will often be expensive and complex, says Samsom. With some extra insulation, they should switch to large-scale heat networks using clean geothermal energy.

The government said earlier it wants housing to be completely gas free by 2050.