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SEPTEMBER 2020 | VOLUME 58 | ISSUE 7
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Report shows public support for low carbon heating solutions A survey of public attitudes to a transition to low carbon heating technologies has been published by BEIS (the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy) The independent report, undertaken on behalf of BEIS by the social research agency NatCen, was designed to explore public views and the level of awareness about greenhouse gas emissions, UK reduction targets, and low carbon heating options. Its findings suggest that there is strong public support for policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions, with ˢ˙% of those interviewed regarding targets for emissions overall, and heating specifically, to be important. However, only a minority reported having heard of specific low carbon heating technologies. Only ˛˞% said they had heard or knew a little about air source heat pumps, while only ˚˛% expressed any awareness about hydrogen boilers. There was little awareness about the level of carbon emissions from heating in buildings, and only ˚8% reported ever hearing of the UK’s carbon emissions targets, while ˜ˠ% said that they had heard about the government’s ˛˙˞˙ zero carbon heating target. Younger people, those with degrees, and people with higher household incomes were more likely to be in favour of carbon reduction policies or think they were important, while older people
tended to have a higher level of awareness of low carbon heating technologies and carbon reduction policies. People who are currently off the gas grid using fossil fuel heating systems were more likely to report knowing at least a little about air source and ground source heat pumps, compared to the rest of the population and, when asked about certain hypothetical aspects of a switch to low carbon heating systems, this group were generally positive. However, while they expected that an environmentallyfriendly heating system would meet their heating needs and be affordable to run and maintain, many expressed concern about the up-front costs. Not surprisingly, when asked about a transition to low carbon heating, a low level of disruption was more acceptable than a period of high disruption, and most people expressed a preference to having some control over timing. When respondents were asked about who they would most trust
for advice or information about low carbon heating systems for their homes, non-governmental organisations were the most commonly trusted source, followed by a government-backed advice service, which in turn was followed by national government, or a tradesperson or professional. However, those who were sceptical about climate change were less likely to trust any of the sources, particularly national government sources.
Future of gas Commenting on the report, the Gas Users Organisation – a body that claims to represent the ˛˝m UK households who use gas for domestic heating – expressed concerns that so few people understand that major decisions may be taken about how they will heat their homes in the future. Andrew Newman, technical director, explains: “While it is encouraging that a majority of the population support measures being taken to address climate
change, there is very little public awareness of the debate about how decarbonisation of heating can be achieved. “What the figures do show is that there is high public confidence in gas, with almost a third of gas users describing their existing heating system as environmentallyfriendly. Furthermore, there is a strong preference in public attitudes for future solutions that are nationally planned, and that cause minimum disruption for domestic consumers. Both of these findings support the strategy of keeping the gas network, and sourcing the gas within it from renewable sources in future, such as hydrogen and biogas made from municipal waste.”
Inside this issue Energy Matters Green Homes Grant – what’s the plan? See page ˚˙
Gas Safety Week Spreading the word about gas safety See page ˝˜
Cost comparisons A separate study, carried out by Delta-ee on behalf of BEIS, has estimated the cost of fully installing different heating technologies in domestic buildings. Under investigation were gas, oil and biomass boilers, as well as air and ground source heat pumps, and some forms of electric heating. Ground source heat pumps represented the highest costs, ranging between ͎˚˜̇˙˙˙ and £˛ˠ̇˙˙˙. In contrast, air source heat pumps cost roughly half as much to install. Biomass also came with a premium price tag: a ˛˞kW pellet boiler was estimated to cost more than £˛˝̇˙˙˙ in the study. Gas and oil boilers fared much better, with a combi-for-combi swap costing as little as ͎˛˛˞˙ for gas and ͎˜˞˙˙ for oil. The electric heating modelled by Delta-ee represented some of the cheapest options replacing storage heaters with panel heaters came in at ͎˚˟˙˙.
COMPETITION Win a Daikin air ťŽũĢƩ āũ Öłù Ŀŋũā̉ See page ˝ˡ