Calls have been made for more financial support for families in order to speed up the installations of heat pumps to help the Government meet its net zero target.
The National Infrastructure Commission, a group of independent advisers, says the pumps are not being installed quick enough to reach the 2050 net zero target. It also wants to see a significant increase in the amount of money put aside to help families instal the pumps, reports the BBC.
It comes as the UK aims to be in a position where it no longer contributes to the amount of greenhouses gases in the atmopshere by 2050. It is one of 197 nations that plans to agreed to try and limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C by 2100.
To do this, scientists say net zero should be achieves by 2050.
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The NIC, which advises government on infrastructure challenges facing the UK, said around eight million buildings will need to ditch gas boilers by 2035 to hit the net zero target. Currently however, these boilers heat around nine in 10 properties in England.
The group says heat pumps are “the solution” and are currently being “deployed rapild in other countries”. The pumps absord heat from the air, ground or water and use it to produce heat.
But the commission said the speed of installation of pumps across the UK is “not cutting the mustard”. That is even after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak relaxed plans to completely ditch gas boilers by 2035 – instead hoping for an 80% phasing out.
Critics suggest this is a watering down of the net zero plan. Although Sunak says the UK will still hit its goals by 2050.
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NIC chairman Sir John Armitt said he found it “hard to accept” Mr Sunak’s assurances. “We’ve got a 2035 target [on boilers] which is only 12 years away,” Sir John said.
“I find it hard to accept that we are likely to meet that when we are installing 50-60,000 heat pumps at the absolute most per annum at the moment when the government has set itself a target of 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028.”
Homeowners can currently apply for a £7,500 grant to install a heat pump. The Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme however has a limited number of grants and a £150m annual budget.
The commission wants to see this expanded to £6bn a year to fund installations for the poorest families. It says all other families should be allowed to claim up to £7k with finance options available beyond that.
Officials at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero told the BBC it was incentivising investment in the heat pump market. It said it is providing up to £30 million to support UK manufacturing in a bid to make the switch a more “attractive choice” for families.
It added that £6.6bn is being put into clean heat and energy efficiency, with a further £6 billion of new funding from 2025.
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