UK: A UK government advisory body has backed calls to make electricity cheaper by removing policy costs from electricity prices.
The move to make heat pumps more affordable are contained in the latest progress report by the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) which warns that only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the country’s 2030 target are currently covered by credible plans.
“The country’s 2030 emissions reduction target is at risk,” warned the committee’s interim chair Professor Piers Forster.
“The new Government has an opportunity to course-correct, but it will need to be done as a matter of urgency to make up for lost time. They are off to a good start. Action needs to extend beyond electricity, with rapid progress needed on electric cars, heat pumps and tree planting,” he said.
The news comes against the backdrop of a more positive story – that the country’s emissions are now less than half the levels they were in 1990.
The committee insists that this is largely due to the hugely successful phase out of coal and the ramping up of renewables. However, to continue to decarbonise the UK the CCC maintains that “ambitious action” across transport, buildings, industry and agriculture will also be required.
The Committee draws attention to what it says is the damage done by the previous government’s policy rollbacks, which have increased the gap between the UK’s plans and its targets.
The Committee urges the new government to address this, with a clear commitment to the net zero transition, backed with rapid policy action and a sharp-eyed focus on removing barriers.
It estimates that approximately 10% of existing homes in the UK will need to be heated by a heat pump, compared to only approximately 1% today.
The CCC has written a priority list of ten recommendations, some with a direct impact on the future of heat pumps.
To make electricity cheaper, it calls for the removal of policy costs from electricity prices to ensure the lower running costs of heat pumps compared to fossil-fuel boilers are reflected in household bills.
The CCC also calls for the removal of the exemption of 20% of households from the 2035 fossil-fuel boiler installation phase-out and address the gap left by removing obligations on landlords to improve the energy efficiency of rented homes.