Hydrogen is not a serious option for home heating and the UK Government’s 2028 target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year is “very unlikely to be met”, according to the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee.
In a letter sent to Lord Callanan, Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero yesterday (Wednesday 22 February), the Committee warns that if the current take-up rate continues, only half of the allocated budget will be used to help households switch to low-carbon heating systems and a healthy market of installers and manufacturers will not be in place in time to implement low-carbon heating policy measures smoothly.
In its key findings, it states hydrogen is “not a serious option for home heating” for the short to medium-term and misleading messages, including from the UK Government, are negatively affecting take-up of established low-carbon home heating technologies like heat pumps.
Upfront costs are too high for many households, even with the help of the grant, making it impossible for low-income households to benefit from the scheme, and while heat pump running costs are becoming competitive with gas boilers in some modelling, progress is urgently needed through electricity market reform to ensure running costs are affordable.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
