Technician installing a heat pump in the yard

Committee report finds government progress ‘unconvincing’

The Public Accounts Committee has published a report into the government’s progress on decarbonising home heating methods.

As one of the biggest challenging facing the government as it looks to achieve net zero carbon emissions, almost 28 million UK households will be required to engage in the transitioning process, however the Decarbonising Home Heating report has found that government progress has been unconvincing. This comes with the government aiming to install 600,000 heat pumps per year until 2028.

According to the report, not only does the 600,000 figure not match the government’s ambitions, consumers also face too much ‘complexity and confusion’ to make decisions that are informed. These issues are also set against the backdrop of a lack of the required number of trained heat pump installers to support the increase in installations.

PAC commitee report quote

In the summary of the report, the Public Accounts Committee said that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero “needs to be realistic about levels of consumer demand, raise public awareness of heat pumps and work with industry to make heat pumps more affordable. It will be essential that DESNZ carefully monitors the rate of installations against its ambition and evaluates progress regularly.”

With the report specifying the importance that nobody is left behind as heating become low-carbon, it was outlined how the department needs to work out how support can be given to homes when heat pumps are not a practical solution. Alongside this, the report recommended that reliable and green sources of energy support the introduction of further low-carbon heating, touching on the work being done to test hydrogen’s uses in heating.

Through the Heat and Buildings Strategy in October 2021, the government committed to deciding the role of hydrogen in heating, however the report specifies how this has encountered a number of issues. These issues include the cancellation of key trials, whilst a recent announcement stated how a hydrogen town pilot will not take place until after 2026.

 

Image credit: iStock

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