New Gas Boilers Should Be Banned Within A Decade In A Move That Could Cost Cash-strapped Britons Thousands A Report Into The UK s Net Zero Policy Has Warned

De Wikifliping

New gas boilers should be banned within a decade in a move that could cost cash-strapped Britons thousands, a report into the UK's net zero policy has warned.
The review, carried out by MP Chris Skidmore and published on Friday, urges the Government to phase out gas boilers by 2033, rather than 2035. 
usp.brDemanding Britain kick-starts its own 'onshore wind revolution', the report also calls for a five-fold increase in solar panels, in a bid to free the UK from the shackles of Russian energy dependence amid the war in . 
But the study has warned the nation's net zero revolution, which would include replacing boilers and buying electric cars, will cost households £4,000 to £6,000 each by 2040, with the average saving by 2050 hitting between £400 and £6,000.
And in a fresh blow, the review also claims that almost 500,000 households would save nothing in the long run, unless more Government aid is provided. 
A major review into Britain's net zero plans has called for a ban on gas boilers to be brought forward by twoto happen earlier than planned, the report also recommended plans to increase solar and onshore wind generation, including . 




Mr Skidmore said insisted nation's net-zero energy ambition benchmarks were feasible, according to conversations with industry figures.
To replace gas heating, the report calls for the Government to ‘turbocharge' the adoption of heat pumps - devices that can absorb heat from the air or ground.
The Government's target is to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.
But it is making slow progress in replacing gas boilers.

Around 1.8million gas boilers are sold each year in the UK, compared with just 55,000 heat pumps.
has so far received a warm welcome from several campaign groups, with the Government urged to heed the review's recommendations.
But its publication comes amid a debate over how and when the nation's net zero plans should come into force - with the war in Ukraine having plunged Britain into a cost-of-living crisis. 
Chris Skidmore (pictured), the former science minister, set out his conclusions in his ‘Net Zero Review' - commissioned under Liz Truss's short-lived government - which looks at how the UK can reach its target to stop production of greenhouse gases by 2050


In what some green campaigners say is a backward step, it was announced this week that one of the UK's last coal-burning power plants would be kept open for an extra two years, as Britain struggles to meet energy supply demands. 
CPRE, the countryside charity, said the review showed the need for a 'massive uplift in renewables'.
Sarah McMonagle, the acting director at the charity, said: 'Solar energy could be transformative, if only our politicians would grasp the opportunity.
'With a few simple planning policy tweaks the installation of solar panels could enhance the value of homes, farms and factories in every pocket of the country.
'Solar panels are like a money-saving carbon reduction device that plugs on top of existing structures.'
Tanya Steele, chief executive of WWF, said that the review 'shows the grass is greener with net zero'.
She added: 'It's concerning that the UK Government has been stop-start in its policies and implementation plans for net zero across renewable energy, food and farming and economic security - at a time we've never needed it more.'
As part of the review, Whitehall is being urged to up solar energy five-fold over the next 12 years, from the current 14GW.

It could mean an extra 580sq miles of panels - larger that the size of Berkshire. 
The report calls for the UK to increase its solar power generation five-fold by 2035, and recommends that the Government offers cheap loans for households to install solar panels (file image)

To tackle this huge demand, the report goes on to call for a 'rooftop revolution' and slash the bureaucratic red tape surrounding the installation of panels on homes and commercial buildings.  
Former science minister Mr Skidmore added: 'We need the full-scale deployment of solar, including through a "rooftop revolution" that removes the existing constraints and barriers to solar panel deployment across residential and commercial buildings in the UK,' 
Other recommendations called for included that all homes must have an energy performance rating of C by 2033 - potentially affecting two-thirds of properties currently failing to meet this benchmark.
However, certain properties - such as listed buildings - would be exempt from this.
The review also proposes a new requirement for councils to take account of net zero targets when making planning decisions and allow them to impose tougher requirements in some areas.
But there are still major questions about how some of these new solutions such as ground source heat pumps, can work for the millions of small homes and flats in Britain's cities because they need a hole between 50ft and 300ft deep - or long trenches measuring around 7,000sqft in the garden or grounds.  
Charlie Mullins, founder of Pimlico Plumbers, said of the boiler scrappage target recently: 'We need targets that relate to the real world, targets that when you look at the technology and infrastructure available are realistic.

That's what will get the UK greener, and if we keep up paying lip service to pie in the sky stuff it will take longer because nobody will engage with the issue.
Former PM Boris Johnson had wanted to push Britain towards new sources of energy for homes, including hydrogen, left, and ground source heat pumps, right
RELATED ARTICLES



Share this article
Share
61 shares


'Heat pumps cannot currently produce the energy to heat water sufficiently, and there is even the suggestion that they may increase the risks from Legionnaires Disease, and as far as hydrogen boilers are concerned, they are only in the prototype stage, so you can't just go out and get one.
'And even if you could there's the small problem of the lack of a hydrogen pipeline so that the green gas would be available to households and businesses.
'And finally the massive effort it would take to get the UK's 30 odd million dwellings swapped out from old gas to green energy on the government's timetable would keep the country's current crop of heating engineers busy for a hundred years.' 
Mr Skidmore also backed calls for communities to see more direct benefits from renewable energy projects in their areas and said funding for Local plumbers we Care reviews net zero measures should be simpler and require less competitive bidding.
Lord Stern, who published an influential review of the economics of climate change in 2006, welcomed Mr Skidmore's review.
He said: ‘This transition, and the investment and innovation it embodies, are at the core of the UK's growth story for the coming decade.'
The report also calls for greater development of onshore wind, and more investment in nuclear power.
It says: ‘Investment in new nuclear is a no-regrets option given expected increase in power demand and retirement of existing plants.'
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-1efd1c80-9329-11ed-96d6-1fc9266664dd" website gas boilers could be banned in Britain within a decade