Heating Industry Coalition Consults on Qualification Criteria for Installers of Low Carbon Heating Systems

A Coalition of Heating Industry bodies with particular interests in Low Carbon Heating Systems today published two consultations on qualification criteria for low carbon heating system training courses.

The first consultation is for the criteria that should apply to training courses for all forms of Low Temperature Heating Systems – widely regarded as necessary, both to allow a future market transformation into systems such as Heat Pumps, but also to ensure the most efficient performance is obtained for modern gas condensing boilers.

The second consultation is for the specific criteria that should apply to training courses specifically for Heat Pumps – which operate at greater efficiencies when able to heat customer’s homes at lower system operating temperatures.

Installers are invited to take part in both consultations:

Both consultations have a deadline of 17:00, 30 June 2020.

Notes:

1. The Committee on Climate Change has recommended that a widespread transformation from boilers to heat pumps and other low carbon heating systems will need to take place in the next 10-15 years; the industry bodies backing these criteria consider them essential to ensuring sufficient heating engineers are equipped with the necessary training and skills to bring about a challenging, but achievable acceleration of low carbon heating.

• The criteria for the generic Low Temperature Heating course have been developed by the Chartered Institute of Heating and Plumbing Engineers, and for the Heat Pump course, by the Heat Pump Association, both in wide consultation with manufacturers, and other industry bodies.

• The CIPHE and HPA will collate the responses for each set of criteria respectively, and finalise the criteria before submitting to Ofqual for approval and inclusion in the relevant Competent Persons Schemes. It is expected the first training courses being run to these criteria will be available by the end of 2020.

Industry welcomes Governments proposed Grants Scheme for Heat Pumps

The Heat Pump Industry has warmly welcomed the Government consultation on Future Support for Low Carbon Heat⁽¹⁾, published yesterday, and in particular the proposal to make grants of £4,000 available for consumers wishing to replace fossil fuel boilers with Heat Pumps.

Chairman of the Heat Pump Association (HPA), Graham Wright, said:

“We are pleased the Government is proposing this important step to decarbonise the way we heat our homes, and thank the Minister, the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, and his civil servants, for their constructive engagement with the HPA, and for developing these policy proposals on the basis of sound evidence and economic analysis. We are particularly pleased that the Government has quoted our recent Industry Roadmap, published last November, within the consultation, and has adopted our proposal for a £4,000 grant per customer, to support heat pump uptake⁽²⁾.

“The Committee on Climate Change has made it clear that the most cost-effective way for the heat sector to deliver the country’s legally binding carbon targets, is to ensure all new heating systems from 2035 are low carbon⁽³⁾. Yesterday’s publication is an important first step in delivering that critical market transformation.

“Although there is further dialogue to be had during and after the consultation period, particularly on whether the overall levels of funding are sufficient to deliver the required growth, and ensuring that alternative policy support is developed for larger heat pump installations, today’s announcement is a most welcome step in the right direction.”

References:
(1) “Future Support for Low Carbon Heat”, Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881622/future-support-for-low-carbon-heat-consultation.pdf

(2) “Delivering Net Zero: A Roadmap For the Role of Heat Pumps”, Heat Pump Association.

http://hpa-bye-bye-divi.localwp-content/uploads/2019/11/A-Roadmap-for-the-Role-of-Heat-Pumps.pdf

(3) p200, “Net Zero – the UK’s Contribution to Stopping Global Warming”. The Committee on Climate Change.

https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/net-zero-the-uks-contribution-to-stopping-global-warming/

Notes:

1. The Government published a consultation on 28th April 2020 on the Future Support for Low Carbon Heat, which includes a proposal to award a £4,000 up-front grant to customers installing heat pumps to replace fossil fuel combustion heating from April 2022, when the current (extended) Renewable Heat Incentive scheme closes.
2. The Heat Pump Association (HPA) represents the significant majority of volume manufacturers of Heat Pumps in the UK (over 80% of the market).
3. In November 2019, the HPA published “Net Zero: A Roadmap for the Role of Heat Pumps”, which included proposals for an up-front grant of £4,000 per customer, to replace the current Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, and that this should act as a bridge to Regulatory measures to drive the decarbonisation of home heating. The
   HPA sees this as an important step towards Heat Pumps replacing around 1 million fossil fuel boilers per year by 2030.
4. Over the past 18 months, the HPA has been at the forefront of the Industry’s engagement with Government, and has provided with extensive evidence, modelling, and views on the best policy framework to ensure the most effective route to heat pumps taking over from fossil fuel boilers as the principal replacement
   heating technology in homes over the course of the next decade.

Chancellor’s Budget is just the beginning for heat pump industry, says HPA Chairman

The Heat Pump Association has welcomed the Chancellor’s Budget, announced on 11th March 2020, which sets out solid plans to fund the replacement of fossil fuel heating and invest in low carbon heating, but warns there is still much work to do in order to meet the net zero carbon emissions target.

The Chancellor’s Budget statement confirmed the following funding commitments for Low Carbon Heat:

• To introduce a levy on gas suppliers to support green gas injection to the grid. This will accelerate the decarbonisation of the UK’s gas supply, by increasing the proportion of biomethane in the grid. This is expected to be implemented in autumn 2021. The Government expects these costs to be passed onto gas bill payers. The expected impact is relatively small; around £1 a year on the average household energy bill, rising to around £5 by 2025; that’s c.0.5% of an average household’s dual fuel bill. The Government will implement a robust cost control framework, which includes an annual budget cap to ensure impacts on bills do not rise unexpectedly; 

• £100 million of exchequer funding in total for 2022/23 and 2023/24 for grant-funding for households and small non-domestic buildings, to install heat pumps, or biomass in limited circumstances, to replace fossil fuel heating. This will form part of government action to help build supply chains ahead of future measures to phase out high carbon heating; and 

• £270m for a Green Heat Network Fund to run from 2022 to 2025, to follow on from the Heat Network Investment Project. This new targeted fund will ensure that heat networks adopt the most cost-effective low carbon heat sources and will avoid locking in gas generation in the sector.  

Ahead of these schemes being established, the Budget announcement has confirmed that the Government will: 

• Extend the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) for a year in 2021/22, maintaining support for heat pumps, biomass and solar thermal; and

• Introduce a third allocation of Tariff Guarantees under the Non-domestic RHI (NDRHI). These will be available for all technologies that have been eligible for the previous two allocations. 

Graham Wright, Chairman of the HPA, said: “This is exactly the type of pro-active investment we need to see from government if we are serious about meeting the aim for net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We have frequently stated that the low carbon heating technology is there and available, but only with the right policies, investment and awareness will we see the major uptake required. However, this is just the beginning. Industry must also fulfil its commitment to producing sufficient heat pumps, in both quality AND quantity, and working with government to ensure the installer base has the necessary skills to install them correctly.”

Heat pump success at IoR dinner

Heat pump related work dominated the awards at the annual Institute of Refrigeration dinner in London.

The J&E Hall award, which recognises the most noteworthy practical contribution in the field of refrigeration, air conditioning or heat pumps, was won by Dave Pearson of Glasgow-based Star Renewable Energy for his work in the development of industrial scale heat pumps.

The Lightfoot Medal for the best IoR talk and paper, as voted by members, was awarded jointly to consultants Andrew Gigiel and Chris Jessop for their presentation Why don’t people install heat pumps?.

The Ted Perry Student Research Award was this year won by Qi Xu of the University of Nottingham for her research on an innovative heat pump – The EcoPump.

Heating installers have their say

To tackle climate change, the UK has a legal commitment for carbon emissions to be net zero by 2050. This means that high carbon fossil fuels currently used to heat our buildings will need to be replaced with low carbon fuels and technologies. In order to be successful, it will be vital that those working in the industry are a contributory part of this change.

The HPA and other industry member organisations launched a survey, and supported by government, gave installers, plumbers and heating engineers an opportunity to share their views to help ensure Government understands the opportunities and risks that installers face in the transition to low carbon heating and the challenge of communicating the necessary changes to households and consumers.

Key findings included:

• 90% of respondents work in organisations with less than 10 people and 48% are sole traders.
• A large proportion of respondents were from an older demographic: 82% of respondents were aged 41 or over and 58% were 51 or over.
• 74% of installers do not rate themselves as very confident in recommending and choosing the best low carbon options to their customers.
• Just 11.5% of respondents have customers who frequently ask about low carbon heating, renewable energy, or carbon emissions, while 69% say that they are either rarely or never asked.
• Factors that installers rate as very important in influencing the decision to retrain are obligatory training for organisation membership (58%), new mandatory installation standards (50%), future mandatory installation standards (42%) and demand from customers (38%).
• Installers believe the best way to increase awareness about the need for renewable heating systems is through communications and marketing.
• Nearly half (41%) of the installers surveyed said that they understand what moving away from high carbon technologies means for their job, but more still needs to be done to raise awareness among installers.

A link to a summary of the survey data is available here

Heat pump industry rises to meet Manchester’s low carbon challenge

Reducing or eliminating domestic carbon emissions will involve transforming the UK’s entire housing stock through a combination of improved insulation, behavioural change and a reduction in the use of carbon intensive heating. For Manchester and the wider city region, this equates to retrofitting up to 1.2 million properties, while ensuring that new homes are built to the highest possible standard.

Working with Manchester City Council, Manchester Climate Change Agency and wider stakeholders, Low Carbon Homes opens on the 14th November at Manchester’s Friends Meeting House to tackle the particular challenges of retrofit across the city region.

A major new feature of the free-to-attend event is Heat Pump Focus – an event within an event – in which heat pump associations, manufacturers, system designers and installers will demonstrate the role of heat pumps in helping Manchester meet its 2038 zero carbon ambition.

This week, the UK Government issued a consultation on their proposed Future Homes

Standard, involving a major review of Building Regulations, which affect how new homes are specified and constructed. A further consultation is anticipated soon to address the more complicated issue of existing homes. The current consultation proposes that widespread use of energy efficient technology is deployed to reduce the carbon impact of domestic heating, (which accounts for 17% of UK emissions) including heating system design suitable for heat pumps.

Although not a new technology, heat pumps (which can be up to four times more efficient than conventional electric or gas heating, emitting up to three times less carbon than gas combination boilers) have not been widely adopted in the UK for various historic reasons but are widely adopted in other North European Countries such as Sweden, Estonia, Finland and Norway.

With the industry assembled on 14th November, Heat Pump Focus provides a unique opportunity for housing professionals to explore and better understand the benefits of heat pumps – at all scales of development – from individual properties to heat networks, and how to utilise the natural thermal energy stored in ground, air and water.

Presentations and Q&A sessions will cover technology fit, current policy and longer-term direction of the heat pump industry in pursuit of net zero. Heat Pump Focus contributors include HPA, GSHPA, NIBE Energy Systems, Vaillant, Infinitas Design, Kensa Contracting, Star Renewable Energy, LG and Daikin.

More information can be found here

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee publishes report

The Science and Technology Committee has highlighted the lack of Government policies in place to deliver the net zero target by 2050 and recommends 10 steps the Government should take to meet this legally binding target.

The Committee welcomes the Government’s decision to strengthen its long-term emissions reduction target, to effectively eliminate all emissions by 2050. However, the Committee on Climate Change has warned that the UK is not even on course to meet its existing legally binding targets for 2023 to 2032. The Committee’s Report on clean growth highlights that urgent Government action is needed to reverse the current policy trend of cut backs and slow progress.

Ten key areas of shortfall

The Committee identifies ten key areas in which Government policy to support the implementation of low-carbon technology has been delayed, cut back or undermined carbon reductions:

1. the ‘plug-in grant’ for low-emissions cars was reduced for the lowest-emissions cars in October 2018, and cut completely for other low-emissions cars;
2. fuel duty has been frozen for nine years in a row, while bus and train fares have been allowed to increase every year over the same period;
3. the ‘feed-in tariff’ for low-carbon power generation was closed;
4. the Energy Companies Obligation scheme was restricted to vulnerable households in November 2018, despite the Government conceding that this would result in lower carbon emissions reductions being achieved;
5. the Government launched a consultation on how to build a market for those able to pay for their own domestic energy efficiency improvements in 2017, but has still not announced what new policy framework will emerge from the consultation responses;
6. following the cancellation of the ‘zero-carbon homes’ policy in 2015, the Government said that it would consult on changes to building regulations in 2019 to improve energy efficiency but no consultation has been launched;
7. changes to business rates in 2017 have seen business rates on solar panels increase between three- and eight-fold, equating to thousands of pounds in additional costs each year for schools, SMEs and hospitals;
8. onshore wind and large-scale solar power have been excluded from the financial support mechanism available to other renewable power technologies since 2017, and planning permission for onshore wind farms has also been made more difficult to obtain since 2015;
9. the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme is due to close in 2021 but no replacement scheme has yet been announced; and
10. the Government’s new White Paper on ‘The future of the energy market’ was due to be published in ‘early’ 2019, but has not yet been published.

Recommendations for change

Against this backdrop of policy delays and reversals, the Committee makes a series of recommendations across different sectors, including transport, heating, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas removal to get the UK ready for net-zero by 2050. Ten priorities include:

11. Strategy for decarbonising heat: The Government must urgently develop a clearer strategy for decarbonising heat. This will require large-scale trials of different heating technologies, such as heat pumps and hydrogen gas heating, operating in homes and cities to build the evidence base required for long-term decisions.
12. Incentive scheme for energy efficiency home improvements: Previous initiatives to encourage the installation of energy efficiency improvements in the ‘able-to-pay’ market have failed because they have focused too narrowly on providing financial support for specific interventions. In order to incentivise homeowners to install energy efficiency improvements, the Government should consider adjusting Stamp Duty so that it varies according to the energy performance of the home as well as the price paid for it. Homebuyers should then be able to make energy efficiency improvements within a defined time after purchasing the property, and claim back corresponding reductions in the Stamp Duty paid retrospectively. The Government should additionally establish a ‘Help to Improve’ scheme by July 2020 that offers matched funding and interest-free loans to homeowners, to cover the costs of making energy efficiency improvements.
13. Plan for reducing vehicle emissions: The Government must bring forward the date of its proposed ban on the sales of new ‘conventional’ cars and vans to 2035 at the latest, and ensure that it covers hybrids too. In the near-term, the Government must reconsider the fiscal incentives for consumers to purchase both new and used vehicle models with lower emissions. The Government should also work with public services and owners of public land, such as schools and hospitals, to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicle chargepoints, and introduce measures to ensure that chargepoints are interoperable, compatible with a smart energy system, reliable, and provide real-time information on their current functionality. Although ultra-low emissions vehicles generate very little emissions during use, their manufacture generates substantial emissions. In the long-term, widespread personal vehicle ownership therefore does not appear to be compatible with significant decarbonisation. The Government should not aim
    to achieve emissions reductions simply by replacing existing vehicles with lower-emissions versions.
14. Support for onshore wind and solar power: The Government must ensure that there is strong policy support for new onshore wind power and large-scale solar power projects, where there is local support and projected cost-savings for consumers over the long-term. Planning consent and technological lifetimes mean that most existing onshore wind farms were expected to last 25 years before needing to be decommissioned or ‘re-powered’ with upgraded equipment. The Government should ensure that national planning policy facilitates the re-powering of existing sites, with a clear planning permission framework for re-powering existing onshore wind farms in place by the end of 2020.
15. Review of the Smart Export Guarantee: The Government must review the functioning of the Smart Export Guarantee the planned successor to the feed-in tariff scheme by the end of 2020, and should be ready to include a minimum price floor if there is evidence of a lack of market competitivity for example, if uptake of tariffs is not significantly greater than the current number of tariffs or if the tariffs offered are significantly lower than wholesale electricity prices.
16. Sustain nuclear power without growing the industry: The Government must make a decision on the future finance framework for new nuclear power by the end of 2019. Subject to value for money, the Government should seek to support new nuclear power generation so as to sustain, but not grow, the UK’s nuclear power industry. It must anticipate any gap in future generation capacity such a policy would cause, and support sufficient renewable power alternatives to fill the gap.
17. Removal of greenhouse gases: The Government should launch a consultation to inform the development of a future framework for managing and incentivising greenhouse gas removal on the scale required for net-zero emissions, and to provide greater certainty to encourage private investment in the development of these technologies. In line with this strategy, the Government should be ready to increase funding for research, development and demonstration of greenhouse gas removal technologies.
18. Clear action on carbon capture, usage and storage: The Government must provide greater clarity on the details of its carbon capture, usage and storage action plan, setting out:
    a. what it considers to be deployment at scale;
    b. what constitutes cost-effectiveness or sufficient cost-reduction;
    c. how it expects to share costs with industry; and
    d. what the major milestones for the plan are, as well as when they are expected to be achieved.
    The Government should learn from previous carbon capture and storage projects and ensure that a sufficient number of projects, of sufficient scale, are undertaken to optimise the chance of successful deployment, and that the knowledge gained from publicly-funded work is publicly accessible.
19. Clean growth regulation of the energy market: The Government should consider the case for amending Ofgem’s principal objective so that it explicitly
    includes ensuring that regulations align with the emissions reduction targets set out in the Climate Change Act 2008.
20. Support for local authorities: The Government should support local authorities and members of the public in contributing to the UK’s net zero target. For local authorities, this should include access to low-cost, long-term finance as well as a statutory duty to develop emission reduction plans in line with the national targ ets set by the Climate Change Act 2008. For members of the public, the Government should publish an easily accessible central guide explaining what measures households can take to support decarbonisation and re-introduce a bespoke telephone and visiting advice service.
    Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, said:
    ‘Parliament has declared a climate emergency. The worrying effects of climate change, such as heatwaves, wildfires and flooding are already occurring at an alarming rate and will have a huge impact on future generations. Throughout our inquiry, it was worrying to hear that although the Government may be ambitious when it comes to reducing carbon emissions, it is not putting the policies in place which are needed to achieve those targets. We need to see the Government put its words into actions.’ The Government’s own projections suggest that the UK is not currently on track to meet its current emission targets, let alone net zero by 2050. The rate of deployment of several key low-carbon technologies is significantly lower than what is required to meet the Government’s ambitions, and various stakeholders expressed concern at the current and projected rate of progress of the UK’s decarbonisation.
    We heard of cut backs in various programmes and slow progress, which are incompatible with the UK’s two upcoming, legally binding, carbon budgets this is unacceptable. If Governments across the world fail to act, it will have dire consequences for the environment and generations to come.
    The scale of the challenge cannot be underestimated. This Report clearly highlights ten key areas of concern and we hope the Government listens to our realistic, achievable recommendations on how to make the UK a world leader in cutting carbon emissions once again.

Heat Pumps and Net-Zero: The Facts

HPA Vice Chairman and NIBE managing director Phil Hurley tackles the decarbonisation debate head on by presenting the case for heat pumps and highlighting the importance of installers in engaging with homeowners about low-carbon heating alternatives.

It’s hard to ignore the growing public awareness and demand for action against climate change.

Almost every day there is a headline or political debate about what needs to be done to reduce the impact on the planet.

Most significantly, on the 11th June the UK Government introduced a Bill to Parliament that commits the UK to reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. This was in response to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) report Net Zero: The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming.

Chief executive of the CCC, Chris Stark believes that heat decarbonisation will be the biggest challenge with our share of low carbon heating requiring an increase from today’s 4.5% to 80% by 2050.

The report was widely welcomed by the industry despite some push back from fossil fuel incumbents, but this is hardly surprising given recommendations to phase out fossil fuels and introduce ambitious targets for renewable heat deployment.

These debates are important, especially when we consider the change required. This makes confusion over dates and targets worrying, and the general misinformation about technological solutions like heat pumps is increasingly frustrating.

Heat pumps are an essential part of the decarbonisation solution and as noted by the CCC, mass deployment will be needed over the coming years.

Their benefits and capabilities should be widespread across media platforms, but misinformation often steers away from the facts. In this short article I hope to set things straight. I regularly see articles highlighting the need for larger heat emitters when installing heat pumps. This is often the case for existing homes but there are a range of options on the market where the radiators required are not significantly bigger than the standard size.

There is also very little cost if any associated with buying larger radiators when building a new home. Moreover, as the thermal efficiency of buildings increases and heat demand falls, radiators are increasingly likely to be oversized for the property meaning that they may not need to be replaced in order to be compatible with heat pumps.

Another primary misconception about heat pumps is that they will not work when it is cold outside. In reality, they can work to an outdoor temperature of -20°C and at the same time provide up to 58°C in supply line temperature.

By providing both space and hot water heating throughout the year and by heating water above 50 degrees, they run for longer hours and provide a consistent and comfortable indoor temperature. Their high efficiencies mean they can offer carbon emissions savings against fossil fuel systems including gas boilers, which we will be moving away from in the coming years.

The transition away from high carbon fossil fuels is essential in the low-carbon transition and heat pumps form part of a range of solutions available to address our heterogenous stock. However, whilst the technology is readily available, the number of installers familiar with renewable heating falls short.

To address this, a fully-fledged strategy to educate and qualify new heat pump installers will need to be prioritised. For consumers, the transition away from fossil fuels can be a daunting prospect.

Considering their engagement with homeowners, installers are best placed to raise awareness of the alternative heating options available. Recognising the importance of installer training is vital. They need to be able to covey the benefits of heat pumps and deploy them to perform as they should.

Given that the Future Homes Standard will mandate the end of fossil fuel heating systems in all new homes from 2025, we can expect the introduction of improved efficiency standards that will decrease heat demand substantially. It is therefore likely to mean that new homes will not have gas connections. It is in the government’s best interest to deliver an installer base that is prepared to deploy low-carbon alternatives.

The CCC has also recommended that almost all heating replacements in existing homes must be low carbon by 2035. This will require the roll-out of heat pumps in the 2020s alongside other low carbon systems with high levels of efficiency.

The Heat Pump Association (HPA) has welcomed the government’s announcement that the UK will become the first major nation to commit to reaching a net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. However, the HPA also warns that clear policy and a widespread adoption of ultra low-carbon heating systems are urgently required in order for the target to stand a realistic chance of being met.

The UK already has a 2050 target – to reduce emissions by 80%, which was agreed by MPs under the Climate Change Act in 2008, but it will now be amended to the new, much tougher goal that will demand a big move away from carbon-based heating systems. Despite acknowledging in the past that a major shift to solely heat pumps would be impractical, the HPA is calling on the government to promote wider support for heat pumps, as a technology that is widely understood, and is available now. This means the work towards hitting this new target can begin immediately, without the need to develop new technology.

Graham Wright, Chairman of the HPA, said: “We are extremely encouraged by the government’s decision to cut the UK’s emissions to almost zero by 2050, but to achieve this government and industry, collectively, must not ‘take our foot off the gas’. What industry needs now are clear signals, with explicit policy and well communicated pathways to low-carbon heating such as heat pumps.”

Wright continued: “The industry needs to prepare for increased production and training with a degree of certainty that is only achievable by clear policy and distinct time frames. The technology is widely available, but more structured training is needed to implement it. The HPA is ready to help government raise awareness among installers and customers and is already planning to set up its own training courses in the near future.” i

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The Heat Pump Association (HPA), as the UK’s leading authority on the use and benefits of heat pump technology, welcomes the publication today of the Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report, which highlights that a net-zero target for UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is both achievable and will deliver on the UK’s Paris Agreement commitments. The HPA agrees with the Committee that reaching this target is feasible with already available technologies, such as heat pumps, which are vital in the decarbonisation of UK heating systems.
Crucially, the report highlights the need for the Government to act immediately to implement a clear regulatory framework to achieve the decarbonisation of heat and recommends a range of policies to do so. The policy recommendations of the report include support for low carbon heating, a review of the balance of tax and regulatory costs across fuels, and a nationwide training programme to upskill the existing workforce. The HPA is pleased to see these recommendations as a means of reflecting the benefits of low carbon technologies and aims to work with all stakeholders to develop effective policy starting with the upcoming Part L Review and consultation on the regulatory framework for the future of heat to phase out high carbon fossil fuels.
Graham Wright, HPA Chairman, commented: “The HPA wholeheartedly supports the report’s recognition that urgent action is required to meet a net-zero target and welcomes the specific recommendations for decarbonising heat within the publication.
“Momentum is now gathering among the public acknowledging the need to change the way we heat our buildings and, as highlighted in the report, known technologies, such as heat pumps, offer a clear solution for this.
“Heat pumps offer an extensive opportunity to reduce the UK’s emissions, as well as helping to address other policy issues such as fuel poverty and air quality. The Future Homes standard set to be introduced in 2025, and supported within this report, represents the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of heating in new builds, which, in addition to those properties off the gas grid, should be the immediate focus for the Government.”
The Committee on Climate Change Report ‘Net Zero: the UK’s contribution to stopping global warming’ is available here. ')}