BEIS explores decarbonising heating: An inquiry is being launched into the means to decarbonise heating in UK homes by The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee.

Due in November 2020, it will examine the government’s ‘Buildings and Heat Strategy’ – helping make certain the UK is on track to deliver net zero by 2050 by investigating the policies, priorities and timelines required to decarbonise heating in residential buildings.

The technological challenges to decarbonising heat will also likely be included in the inquiry, together with concerns around distributing costs and network capacity, how to coordinate and deliver low carbon heating incentives as well as regulation and consumer engagement and protection.

Accounting for about 13% of the UK’s yearly emissions footprint, domestic heat is equivalent to the contribution of all petrol and diesel cars.

Across the UK’s 29 million homes of the heat utilised less than 5% comes from low carbon sources.

BEIS Committee Chair Darren Jones stated: “Achieving the government’s net zero target demands that we move to decarbonising all buildings by 2050. Decarbonising heat in homes will be central to this ambition but the scale, cost and complexity of the challenge is considerable and it is vital that we begin to map out the steps which will be needed to move away from traditional gas boilers in homes across the country”.

“The government has announced a heat strategy for later this year. As a Committee, we will want to use our inquiry to scrutinise these plans and ensure we have a long term policy for heat that gets to grips with the challenges ahead of us, the issues around cost and technology and around protecting consumers and the fuel poor and enables the UK to seize the potential for new jobs and industries while helping the UK meet its net zero commitments.”

Studying some of the major issues around heating and energy use in homes and proposed actions such as a ban on sales of new gas boilers from 2030 or 2035, the Committee will build on the work of the Climate Assembly.

It is welcoming evidence submissions up to 13th November 2020.

The Committee will also be taking on a series of other topics in future months, such as carbon pricing, decarbonising industry and the institutional arrangements to reaching net zero.

BEIS explores decarbonising heating.