News Update

Large-scale hydrogen heating project

A three-year project in the Netherlands is testing 100% hydrogen domestic heating in what is claimed to be the first large scale pilot of its kind.

Baxi’s parent company, BDR Thermea Group, is testing its 100% hydrogen boilers in 12 inhabited homes, with hydrogen supplied via an existing natural gas grid.

Taking place in the eastern Dutch town of Lochem, the pilot is being conducted in detached listed houses, all built around 1900, which will each be equipped with one of the boilers burning pure hydrogen with zero carbon emissions.

The houses were deliberately chosen as older residential housing stock, with restrictions to the changes that can be made to them due to their heritage status. Over the course of the thee-year pilot, researchers will focus on extensive testing in winter, when demand peaks.

Baxi is currently participating in the Government-funded Hy4Heat programme, which sees the manufacturer showcase prototype hydrogen boilers at the UK’s first 100 percent hydrogen public demonstration in Low Thornley, near Gateshead.

All property types ‘right for heat pumps’

A study funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has concluded that there is no property type that is unsuitable for a heat pump. However, scaling the roll out of heat pumps across the UK will require crosssector innovation to overcome the challenges to adoption, including upfront costs and disruption during installation.

The ‘Electrification of Heat’ demonstration project has been set up to better understand the technical and practical feasibility, and constraints of a mass roll out of heat pumps into British homes.

The study was able to demonstrate that energy efficiency upgrades are not always necessary to install a heat pump. For instance, energy efficiency upgrades were only made for 15 per cent of properties where a heat pump was installed – in most cases this was loft insulation.

The majority of homes where a heat pump was installed had an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or D.

GAS CONDENSING BOILERS Government to consult on boosting gas boiler efficiency

The Government is launching a new public consultation seeking to make gas condensing boilers even more energy efficient and suitable for conversion to hydrogen.

The consultation states that each year up to 1.7m domestic-scale natural gas boilers are installed in the UK. It concedes that “even with increasing heat pump deployment, we expect a minimum of 10m further domestic gas boiler installations between 2025 and 2035.” Present policies hope to see 600,000 heat pumps in 2028. In 2021 just 43,000 were installed.

The consultation argues that such a large marketplace for gas boilers must ensure that these will be “reducing domestic gas consumption, to lower consumer bills and carbon emissions and improve our energy security.” It avowedly “continues in the same vein as previous regulatory improvements, including the introduction of the requirement for gas boilers to be condensing models from 20055(sic) and the introduction of the Boiler Plus Standards in England in 2018.”

It proposes new requirements that “reflect recent technological developments, and will help ensure consumers are getting the greatest potential out of the condensing boilers in their homes.” These include proposals to “reform boiler controls standards; tackle boiler oversizing, particularly in combination boilers; bring system and regular boilers within the scope of expanded requirements; improve the minimum standards for hot water tanks; develop installer skills; and seek ways to improve heating system design, commissioning, and maintenance.”

It proposes to mandate that from 2026 onwards all new domesticscale gas boilers sold are to be “hydrogen-ready.” The government’s view is that there is a strong case for the introduction of hydrogen-ready boilers as standard from this date. It states that “the government expects the upfront costs of hydrogen-ready boilers to reach price parity with those of existing natural gas boilers once they match the current levels of production.”

The consultation also outlines the government’s “hope” that hybrid systems of gas boilers and heat pumps “may be able to play an even more substantive role, potentially becoming the new minimum energy performance product from 2028.”

Overall, these policies are expected to improve the in-home performance of the average newly installed natural gas boilers by up to 6 per cent. The consultation is principally focused on domestic-scale natural gas boilers with a capacity of 45kW or less. However, “views on whether it is appropriate to extend these data” are also sought. Closing date is March 21.

Improving schools’ heating controls is ‘fundamental need’

Improving heating controls should be regarded as a fundamental plank of government ambitions to improve energy efficiency in schools and colleges, says Rehau – a supplier of underfloor heating (UFH) systems and controls.

Plans have recently been unveiled to allocate £500m to schools and colleges in England to help save on bills during the winter months and manage energy consumption. While the funding can be used on multiple measures, Rehau is highlighting the benefits of implementing smart technologies for existing UFH systems within educational environments.

“The government announcing financial support to ensure schools and colleges are more thermally efficient is very welcome news at a time when the energy crisis continues,” “However, it is vital that these finite sums are used efficiently.

“Considering that many schools and colleges use UFH technology as standard, enabling greater control and efficiency over these systems would therefore be highly effective,” said Steve Richmond, head of marketing and technical at Rehau Building Solutions. “Moving from basic controls to smarter solutions that can be monitored easily zoneby-zone by the facilities team will ensure improved occupant comfort while reducing inefficiency from heating unoccupied areas.

“Smart controls provide an innovative way of futureproofing educational buildings with minimal disruption from building works that would be felt with other thermal efficiency measures,” added Richmond.

CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS EU to impose CO2 tariff on imports of polluting goods

The European Union has struck a political deal to impose a carbon dioxide emissions tariff on imports of polluting goods such as steel and cement, a world-first scheme aiming to support European industries as they decarbonise. A new directive will impose CO₂ emissions costs on imports of iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium and electricity.

Companies importing those goods into the EU will be required to buy certificates to cover their embedded CO₂ emissions. The scheme is designed to apply the same CO₂ cost to overseas firms and domestic EU industries - the latter of which are already required to buy permits from the EU carbon market when they pollute.

Dutch MEP, Mohammed Chahim, European Parliament’s lead negotiator on the law, said the border tariff would be crucial to EU efforts to fight climate change. “It is one of the only mechanisms we have to incentivise our trading partners to decarbonise their manufacturing industry.”

The aim of the levy is to prevent European industry from being undercut by cheaper goods made in countries with weaker environmental rules. It will also apply to imported hydrogen, which was not in the original EU proposal but which EU lawmakers pushed for in the negotiations. The precise starting date will be determined early in 2023.

Currently, the EU gives domestic industry free CO₂ permits to shield them from foreign competition, but plans to phase out these free permits once the carbon border tariff is phased in, to comply with World Trade Organization rules.

Brussels has said countries could be exempted if they have equivalent climate change policies to the EU, and suggested the United States could dodge the levy on this basis. The EU plan has faced criticism from countries including China, and comes amid heightened trade tensions with the United States over the Inflation Reduction Act’s subsidies for green technologies, which the EU has said could disadvantage European firms.

The tariff is part of a package of EU policies designed to cut emissions from the EU by 55 per cent by 2030 from 1990 levels.

‘Radical steps’ needed to tackle the epidemic of leaky walls

Plans in England to improve insulation levels in homes are being hampered by the epidemic of ‘leaky walls’, and ‘radical steps’ are needed to tackle one of the most difficult hurdles on the road to net zero housing.

This is the conclusion of a new report from the Resolution Foundation, which found that despite the strong case to properly insulate homes, it is uneconomic for most households.

The report, ‘Hitting a brick wall’, points out that insulation drives have focused on the low hanging fruit of loft insulation, while ignoring the difficult problem walls present. It estimates that 9m homes in England alone have walls in need of significant upgrading.

Rather than repeating another failed incentive scheme for home improvements, or putting the entire nationwide wall insulation onto the state, the report calls for a radical new ‘carrot and stick’ approach – combining targeted financial help for home improvements with a ban on poorly insulated homes by 2035.

The report says with leaky homes often concentrated in less affluent neighbourhoods, targeted financial support will be vital for those who simply can’t afford vital home improvements. A means test that takes account of households’ income and assets in order to determine eligibility, could be used.

The ‘stick’ should be a new regulation setting a hard deadline for homes to meet energy efficiency standards. The government, says the report, should require all homes to be EPC C rated by 2035.

In Brief

UK’s largest heat pump factory opens

The UK’s largest production facility dedicated to ground source heat pumps has been officially opened at Mount Wellington Mine in Truro, Cornwall, following a major investment by Kensa Group and Legal & General Capital (LGC).

The factory has the capacity to manufacture 30,000 ground source heat pumps every year.

In the 24 months since LGC became shareholders, the manufacturer has broken records by doubling the amount of ground source heat pumps made at the facility. A plan is in place to increase output by a further 50 per cent.

Renewable power set to overtake coal

Smart grid potential on show for C&I sites

The world is set to add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the past 20 with renewables overtaking coal as the largest source of electricity generation by mid century.

The International Energy Agency’s latest report on the state of the global renewables market found that renewables will account for over 90 per cent of global electricity expansion in the next five years. Solar photovoltaic capacity will almost triple by 2027, becoming the largest source of power capacity in the world, while wind capacity will almost double.

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has announced a collaboration with Power Transition to host a Smart MicroGrid Demonstrator at BRE’s Science Park in Watford.

The first-of-its-kind Smart MicroGrid application, developed by Power Transition, will demonstrate how this solution can be utilised by commercial and industrial (C&I) sites.

Power Transition’s Smart MicroGrid solution for C&I sites combines software and hardware technologies with AI and machine learning to optimise generation, storage and energy usage. The solution unlocks the functionality of smart energy hardware and exploits new markets including demand side response (DSR), reducing carbon and cutting energy costs.

European Parliament upgrades take a hit

Millions of euros worth of capital renovations to European Parliament buildings — including energy efficiency measures, new carpets and a bar — have been scrapped in a bid to cover the “drastic increase” in energy prices.

The Directorate-General for Infrastructure and Logistics (INLO) is responsible for managing buildings and maintenance in the European Parliament’s places of work. It has recently suspended 14 renovation projects that would improve energy efficiency, worth more than €6.7m combined. This was to shift the money to cover revenue costs for increased fuel bills due to the running costs of buildings in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

Leena Maria Linnus, the directorgeneral for the INLO, told the committee that capital investment cost-cutting was necessary to cover soaring energy prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Some of our buildings that are new here in Brussels are extremely energy efficient. But some others are not energy efficient because of the building itself. That definitely includes several of the administrative buildings,” she said.

Critics say that working remotely or cancelling parliamentary sessions in Strasbourg would save millions of euros while also reducing energy waste. A spokesman for Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, stated they are committed to reducing energy consumption.

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY REPORT Record investment in energy efficiency measures in 2022

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared that 2022 could have marked a “vital turning point” in the drive to use energy more efficiently, after record investment was directed to measures that reduce consumption of energy, from building renovations to public transport upgrades and electric car infrastructure. However, it warns that such investments need to double in size to meet net zero targets.

Data published by the influential agency indicates the global economy used energy 2 per cent more efficiently in 2022 than it did in 2021, marking a step change in global efforts to consume energy more carefully after years of flat-lining progress. The findings suggest that energy efficiency spending was set to reach an all-time high last year, with investment increasing a massive 16 per cent on 2021 levels to reach $560bn.

The IEA said the preliminary data was notable because it marked a break with nearly a decade of sluggish progress on improving energy efficiency that has badly undermined efforts to meet global climate goals. The report, titled Energy Efficiency 2022, notes that 2020 and 2021 were “two of the worst years for global energy efficiency progress” with annual gains falling to around 0.5 per cent as the Covid 19 pandemic slowed the pace of building and factory upgrades. The slowdown came after the global rate of energy efficiency improvement had already fallen from 2 per cent in the first half of the last decade to 1.3 per cent in the second half.

Ramping up the energy efficiency of buildings, technology and industrial processes, is seen to be a key solution for meeting climate goals by midcentury as the global population expands. Its profile has grown over the past year as governments, particularly in the European Union have looked to find ways to boost their energy independence and curb soaring energy bills in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent fossil fuel supply crunch. This has seen governments announce targets to cut energy use by 10 to 15 per cent in response to the threat of gas shortages that has resulted from Russia’s weaponisation of energy supplies to the continent.

Dr Fatih Birol (left), executive director of the IEA, said the world was seeing a repeat of some of the policies that emerged in response to the oil supply crisis of the 1970s. “The oil shocks of the 1970s led to a massive push by governments on energy efficiency, resulting in substantial improvements in the energy efficiency of cars, appliances and buildings,” he explained. “Amid today’s energy crisis, we are seeing signs that energy efficiency is once again being prioritised. Energy efficiency is essential for dealing with today’s crisis, with its huge potential to help tackle the challenges of energy affordability, energy security and climate change.”

Despite the encouraging preliminary findings for 2022, the IEA counsels that governments need to significantly ramp up their energy efficiency investments and enhance policy frameworks even further to achieve net zero. The 2 per cent improvement is a welcome acceleration compared with underpowered improvements seen in recent years. But achieving climate goals by 2050 calls for a 4 per cent improvement annually this decade, according to the IEA’s net zero scenario. Strengthening building codes, energy-saving awareness campaigns, and investments in emerging and developing economies are all avenues policymakers should explore, according to the report.

The IEA’s report calculates that total energy bills in its 31 member countries would have been $680bn higher if governments had not introduced energy efficiency measures since 2020 - which would amount to roughly 15 per cent of their cumulative energy expenditure this year.

Green jobs growing ‘at four times the rate of overall UK market’

Green jobs are growing around four times the rate of the overall UK employment market, with 2.2 per cent of all new jobs classed as green. However more than one-third of these roles are now based in London and the South East, with a dominance of professional and scientific roles.

The second edition of PwC’s Green Jobs Barometer has found that the number of green jobs advertised in the UK has almost trebled in the last year, equating to 336,000 positions, providing encouragement that the economy is becoming greener.

In the year to June 2022, every region of the UK saw green jobs accounting for a greater share of the job market, and the number of green jobs at least double in absolute terms.

Scotland has the highest proportion of green jobs, at 3.3 per cent (up from 1.7 per cent last year). London saw the second strongest increase in green jobs as a proportion of its job market, and by volume of jobs London and the South East are pulling away from the rest of the country. Just 7,594 unique green job ads were for roles in the North East in 2022, compared to the significant 110,067 located across London and the South East.

The demand for green jobs in Scotland is being driven by the energy sector – a thriving energy hub, the region boasts the largest pool of energy-related skills in the UK, skills which are highly transferable to roles in the emerging renewables subsector.