The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has just released their annual ‘Progress in reducing emissions’ report to Parliament.
The government needs to go ‘further and faster’ would be one conclusion from the report to Parliament which shows heat pump installations rising slower than needed.
The bottom line is this: we are not moving from fossil fuel dependency to electrification fast enough.
This year, the government has published its Warm Homes Plan, Future Homes and Buildings Standards, and made some progress in removing limited policy costs from electricity bills. While these are all positive moves, the primary block to the wider adoption of heat pumps – in both homes and businesses - remains the price disparity between electricity and gas.
As long as electricity costs 3-4 times the price of gas, heat pumps remain unaffordable for the majority
Amy McEwen Policy and Public Affairs Analyst for Mitsubishi Electric
Inflated pricing
Of course, one of the CCC recommended key actions moving forwards is to make electricity cheaper. It is what all of us working in the built environment are shouting. It is, without a doubt, the biggest barrier to electrification in this country.
The simple truth though is that as long as electricity remains three to four times more expensive per kilowatt hour than gas, renewable alternatives like heat pumps remain unaffordable for the majority.
Policies that help to bridge the ‘Spark Gap’ will do more than anything to improve confidence in making the switch from gas, and support the UK’s move to energy independence.
However, while government is ‘beginning’ to pull the right levers (at least on the residential side), our marginal pricing system is a complex beast that government alone can't solve quickly.
So, what else needs to be done concurrently?
The government should work with industry to identify and remove barriers to the installation of, for example, heat pumps capable of achieving a high temperature, and adopt the CCC’s recommendation, and what the industry has long advocated – a comprehensive programme to decarbonise public sector buildings.
Accelerating the installation of heat pumps in buildings also requires:
- Filling the gaps left by Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS)
- Addressing skills gaps
- Enabling the right market conditions to reduce installation costs
Time to ramp up awareness and education
Ramping up awareness and education around combined heating and cooling systems (e.g. Air-to-air) is particularly topical since the CCC's 'A Well-Adapted UK' climate adaptation report and, well, if you've been in a hot building this past week.
By the time Carbon Budget 6 (2033-2037) comes around, buildings are expected to become the highest-emitting sector in the Government's Carbon Budget Growth & Delivery Plan.
It's time we start prioritising the actions that will not only reduce emissions, but make our buildings more comfortable to inhabit, and less reliant on volatile fossil fuels.
Amy McEwen is a Policy and Public Affairs Analyst for Mitsubishi Electric
