78% of all UK C02 levels are to be reduced by 2035 – is this deliverable? It’s a great idea but where is the plan? And how will it affect our daily lives? The detail policies have not yet been published, so we are waiting to find out the new heating and building strategy and how will we replace our gas boilers?
Almost 90 per cent of homes in England currently use fossil fuels, predominantly for heating but also for cooking and hot water. The vast majority of these homes, some 85 per cent, are connected to the gas grid.
Public awareness is low about the connection between climate change and how we heat homes and workplaces. So how will we replace our gas boilers?
This week, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary admitted that it would cost £100s of billions to transform the heating of our homes. We had a Green Homes Grant scheme but it was cancelled after just six months.
We have an Energy White Paper which outlines measures and includes the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan outlining wind, hydrogen, carbon capture and energy efficient ideals – but without the Green Homes Grant it is meaningless.
40% of all UK carbon emissions come from heating our buildings. There are 27 million gas boilers in the UK which need to be phased out by 2033. Costing £300-£400 million pounds – who is going to pay?
Kwasi Kwarteng said, ‘Heating buildings, decarbonising heat sources and improving energy efficiency of homes is a big challenge – we have a heat and building strategy which will be clear and full of policies and directions which will be coming out in the next couple of months. This will explain how will we replace our gas boilers.’
The current target is to replace 600,000 gas boilers a year – and that was with the Green Homes Grant. There are 27 million to do. This means only 8.4 million will be complete by 2035.
We hope the Government comes up with a good plan – there’s a lot of work to be done.