The Sustainable Energy Association (SEA) has urged the government to introduce a limit on the carbon intensity of heating systems that would become progressively stricter over time.
The limit would apply at the point of installation or replacement. Their emissions would be calculated on the basis of their efficiency, taking into account the requirements for both space and water heating, as well as the carbon intensity of their fuel.
SEA said this would send a strong signal to manufacturers of low-carbon heating systems to scale up investment and production and put Britain on a path to net zero emissions by 2050.
“Whilst there are potential new solutions that may be developed in the future there are also heating systems that offer immediate and substantial carbon savings if deployed now,” the association stated in a new report.
“This huge carbon saving potential should be recognised by offering financial incentivisation for the early uptake of these systems in replacement of fossil fuel heating systems.”
Proposed emissions limit
The proposed limit would start at 0.35kgCO2e/kWh in 2021 and fall to 0.2kgCO2e/kWh – the carbon intensity of a typical gas boiler in the UK – by 2030.
SEA said this would achieve the government’s commitment to halt the installation of fossil fuel heating in properties off the gas grid by the end of the 2020s, as stated in its Clean Growth Strategy in 2017.
New coal heating would be barred immediately. The installation of heating systems running on oil would be prohibited from 2024 and of those using liquefied petroleum gas from 2028.
Starting in 2030, natural gas boilers could no longer be installed on a standalone basis. SEA said the government would therefore need to make a decision on the future of gas networks by the end of the decade at the latest and ideally in the mid-2020s.
The limit would then fall to zero by 2050.
SEA said it should form part of a holistic approach to lowering emissions from buildings, which should also include measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce heat demand.
Lesley Rudd, chief executive of the SEA, said: “This regulatory proposal would provide long term certainty to industry and investors and give confidence to the public that the government’s decarbonisation targets will be met.
“Our proposal does not reduce the number of viable heating options for consumers; rather it provides the framework for low carbon fuels to develop. It should however be paired with financial incentives to encourage already proven low-carbon heating technologies.”
In his Spring budget statement in 2019, the chancellor at the time, Philip Hammond, announced the government would ban the installation of fossil fuel heating in new homes from 2025 as part of a new Future Homes Standard.