Making Our Homes Energy-Fit For The Future
to generate 5GW of low carbon hydrogen by the end of this decade, including development of the first town to be heated entirely by hydrogen. This transformation presents particular challenges – and opportunities – for the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), with a report in July 2019 by the Decarbonisation of Homes in Wales Advisory Group saying that the 750,000 homes in South East Wales are responsible for 27% of all energy consumed across CCR. The report stated that our region has some of “the oldest and least thermally efficient housing stock in Europe” – recommending a 30-year ‘decarbonisation’ of homes across the region by 2050, with every property meeting the ‘climateresilient’ standards of being low carbon, water and energy efficient; and all housing stock retrofitted to attain a band A energy rating by the mid-century landmark.
When Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined his Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution in November 2020, it was no coincidence that Point 1 and Point 2 – the generation of Offshore Wind and production of Hydrogen power – focused on delivering clean and green energy capable of powering every UK home by 2030.
750,000 homes are responsible for 27% of all energy consumed across CCR
The Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) authoritative ‘UK Housing: Fit For The Future’ report has shown that the UK’s legally-binding climate change targets will not be met without the near-complete elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from UK buildings – and with the country’s 29 million homes accounting for 14% of total UK emissions, there’s a clear and urgent need to adapt our housing stock for the higher average temperatures, flooding, water scarcity and the other climate challenges that are forecast for the homes we live in by the mid-century.
With policy experts at the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) predicting that CCR could meet all of its energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2035 (through a blend of electricity and hydrogen produced by solar, offshore wind, tidal power, hydropower, geothermal and fusion energy) as well as creating thousands of new jobs and billions of pounds of extra GVA to the region, the domestic energy transformation can’t come quick enough for the Cardiff Capital Region – or anywhere else in the UK for that matter, with Baroness Brown, Chair of the CCC Adaptation Committee warning: “the climate change will not wait while we consider our options.”
The target is for clean, green energy to power every UK Home by 2030 Little wonder that the government is looking to quadruple off-shore wind production, creating 40GW by 2030 – and is working with industry
www.cardiffcapitalregion.wales
So what will the forthcoming domestic refit ‘look like’ – will there be a solar panel on every roof,
The CCR Energy Edition
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