UK closer to net zero?

looking forward to the launch of the Heat Training Grant, which will offer engineers wishing to upskill £500 towards a heat pump training course.”

Split focus

However, Daikin’s Henk Van den Berg says: “While it’s reassuring to see the government taking steps to get the UK on to the path to net zero, the latest announcements are missing a clear timescale for the important shift of the Climate Change Levy away from electricity.

‘Market mechanism is irrational’

Meanwhile, trade body the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA) has hit out against the government for pressing on with its consultation for a market-based mechanism for low-carbon heat. The proposed government heat pump production quota announced by Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has been branded an “out of touch” and “absurd” policy by its CEO Mike Foster.

The proposal is that British heating manufacturers’ heat pump sales should represent 4 per cent of gas boiler sales. For every boiler sold over this quota, a £5,000 fine would be imposed on the manufacturer, with a maximum liability of £340 million a year.

support available to homeowners in the form of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). So far, the BUS has been underperforming… Lack of consumer awareness and the severe lack of heat pump engineers are playing a major part in the slow uptake of heat pumps.

“A heat pump installation, and how it works once installed in the property, is vastly different to a traditional gas boiler. Homeowners need impartial support in order to make an informed decision on whether a heat pump might be suitable for their property.

“However, homeowner support and awareness is just one piece of the puzzle. Currently, the number of qualified heat pump engineers is a minimal 2,000, in comparison to the 130,000 gas engineers working in the industry. Whilst [the] announcements focused on the homeowner, more support is needed for the installer. We are

“The government continues to split the nation’s focus on renewable heating in the home and in business, with further investment in hydrogen, which lacks the technology and infrastructure to make a meaningful and immediate impact.

“Couple this with not bringing forward a ban on fossil fuel boilers in UK homes, and the government is missing a huge opportunity to decarbonise homes in the short to medium term.

“Extending the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to 2028 is a positive step, but there’s a real need for transition technologies such as hybrid heat pumps to be brought into the fold. These can be retrofitted into UK homes quickly and easily, allowing homeowners to take a first step into renewable heating, and have already been successful in transitioning homes to greener forms of heating in other European nations.”

And Glynn Williams, UK country director at Grundfos, adds: “How disappointing to see

In current market conditions, this could see manufacturers trying to recoup the loss by ramping up boiler prices. Mike says: “Punishing manufacturers for selling the boilers that consumers want to buy is simply irrational and, by doing so, manufacturers may be left with no choice but to raise prices.

“If the public truly want to buy heat pumps, our members will sell them: that’s the basic law of demand and supply. Instead, this absurd, Soviet-style production quota will force our members to import heat pumps into the UK to avoid a fine – and that’s at the expense of a British-built boiler.

“The stark reality of a plan to impose huge fines on British companies is that the jobs of British workers will be sacrificed, as manufacturers rely on cheap import units made in the EU and further afield.

“The Whitehall obsession with this market mechanism reaffirms our view. They are simply out of touch with the public, they do not understand even basic economics and frankly, they don’t care about the jobs of British workers.” a supposedly revamped net-zero strategy that repeats previous iterations’ focus on insulation. We need to address energy inefficiency at source.

“Hydraulic balancing of inefficient heating systems, for instance, could save up to 20 per cent a year on bills for an initial outlay of around £120. A nationwide roll-out of hydraulic balancing could save up to £3.1 billion annually.

“By tackling the causes and not just the symptoms of energy inefficiency, the government could make considerable ground on its net-zero goals, not to mention alleviating cost-of-living pressures for thousands of homes and businesses. On the evidence of this new strategy, however, we have again spurned a golden opportunity.” ■