Weekend press: net zero delay has left room for sceptics

In Utility Week’s latest round-up of the weekends’ papers: Climate Change Committee chair Lord Deben says the prime minister’s delay in publishing a net zero strategy has left room for sceptics to “complain, attack and undermine” and environmental campaigners warn the government’s plan for the replacement of gas boilers “barely scratches the surface”.

UK net zero delay has left room for sceptics’ attacks, says government climate adviser

Boris Johnson’s delay in publishing the net zero emissions strategy has left a space for climate sceptics to “complain, attack and undermine” on cost grounds, and other countries could do with seeing more “proper leadership” from the UK before Cop26, the government’s independent climate adviser has said.

Lord Deben, the Conservative peer and chair of the climate change committee, said critics of the net zero policy had been vocal in the public debate because “it hasn’t been put into context by the government”.

Johnson has stuck to Theresa May’s policy of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but the government has not yet published a roadmap of policies, a Treasury review of costs or some of its sectoral strategies.

These are now expected in September, just two months before the UN talks in Glasgow, after rows with the Treasury about how to spread the cost of changes, ranging from green boilers to decarbonising transport.

In an interview with the Guardian, Deben said the absence of detail had “given an open opportunity for people to make all sorts of statements without any response from the government”, which was why he was “pressing very hard to get this work out”.

He said Johnson should take credit for sticking to the net zero policy, and he praised the government’s preparations for the Cop26 summit under its climate envoy, Alok Sharma.

The Guardian

New scheme to replace just 60,000 gas boilers ‘barely scratches the surface’, Boris Johnson warned

New government plans to cut carbon emissions have been attacked for “barely scratching the surface”, because they will replace just 60,000 gas boilers.

Boris Johnson is poised to announce a four-fold boost to a £100m scrappage scheme to offer grants of £7,000 – instead of £4,000 – to homeowners willing to switch to heat pumps.

The move follows fierce criticism of the delay to a promised heat and buildings strategy, which was due in July, with the crucial COP26 summit in Glasgow now just 11 weeks away.

It would hike the budget to £400m and run the scheme over three rather than two years – as well as providing higher grants – but is not yet thought to have been approved by the Treasury.

Friends of the Earth described the planned programme as “a start”, but one falling far short of what is needed when 29 million UK homes must be upgraded.

“What’s needed are concerted, comprehensive measures, not these half measures,” said climate spokesperson Connor Schwartz, adding: “This barely scratches the surface.

“The pay-off of proper investment is that we will have warm homes that aren’t reliant on polluting gas. This means emissions will reduce significantly and there are plenty of long-term jobs in it.”

Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said: “This needs over £4bn during this Parliament so, if true, the debate of £400m or less is that between deeply inadequate and pathetic.”

The Independent

Offshore wind farm electricity could be used to make hydrogen

Excess electricity generated by offshore wind farms could be used to produce hydrogen for use in heating and cars.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business and Energy Secretary, is preparing to unveil plans to dramatically increase the use of low-carbon hydrogen as part of the country’s target to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

One option being considered by ministers is subsidising the production of the chemical using excess energy generated by offshore wind farms.

The hydrogen strategy, due to be published this week, is expected to outline government plans for a “twin track” approach to back both green hydrogen, which is made from water using an electric current, and blue hydrogen, which is made from natural gas.

The document will also outline proposals, announced in Boris Johnson’s 10-point plan for net zero, for Britain to have the capacity to generate five gigawatts (GW) of low carbon hydrogen by 2030 – although the paper is expected to fall short of outlining the specific plan to use excess energy from wind turbines to produce green hydrogen. It will instead simply set out “a comprehensive package of support” for “green” projects.

The Telegraph

Race to build affordable heat pumps for Britain’s homes hots up, but will the public warm to them?

It is a government policy few voters are likely to know anything about, and yet it is one that will change how tens of millions of people across the country do the most basic of things: heat their homes.

Ministers are targeting the installation of 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028 to bring down Britain’s carbon emissions. However, the current rate is less than a tenth of that figure, while the financial and legislative support needed to reach it is absent.

Heat pumps are expensive, at about £10,000 for a three-bed home, compared to £3,000 or less for a gas boiler. That, though, could soon change, with one company hoping to halve the upfront cost of heat pumps within 18 months and to reach cost parity with gas within three years.

Inside a large warehouse in Slough are a pair of newly constructed houses that Octopus Energy believes will allow it to transform heat pumps in Britain from an expensive, fringe technology for the eco-minded elite to a subsidy-free, mass-market product.

The prospect of cheap, green heating comes at a crucial time for the Government. The Cop26 international climate summit in Glasgow is less than three months away, with Boris Johnson saying last week that he hoped to secure a deal around the four key areas of “coal, cars, cash [for poor countries] and trees”.

That followed a landmark UN climate report on Monday which warned of a “code red for humanity”.

Heat pumps are not a new technology. The basic chemistry behind them was first demonstrated in the 1750s, while the first working heat pump was built 100 years later.

They work somewhat like a fridge or air conditioner in reverse. A cold refrigerant extracts warmth from outside air, soil or water, it is then compressed using electricity which further raises its temperature, that hot refrigerant then heats a water source.

They are capable of reaching extraordinary efficiency levels, which has made them the preferred method of decarbonisation for most climate experts.

“You can start getting emissions savings from heat pumps now,” said Dr David Joffe of the Climate Change Committee, the independent body that advises the Government on meeting its emissions targets. “The technology is available and given the importance of the 2020s to meeting the targets, we shouldn’t wait for technologies that aren’t.”

Significant hurdles remain though, not least the upfront cost. Greg Jackson, the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, told The Telegraph much of that is because “the current set-up is almost artisanal. A lot of installations so far have been bespoke for large, complex houses”.

The company plans to cut the cost of an installation to about £4,000-£5,000 within 18 months. Most of those savings will come simply from standardising the installation process and purchasing parts at scale.

The two homes inside the warehouse – one built to 1970s standards and the other to early 2000s standards – represent, according to Octopus Energy, about 40 per cent of all homes in Britain. Using the buildings, heating engineers run “F1 pit stop-style installations” to perfect the procedure.

That, claimed Octopus, should mean that, this winter, it goes from a week-long undertaking with four people on-site at all times to a two-and-a-half day operation in which each expert is present only for short periods, halving the labour costs in the process.

Other cost savings will come from sourcing parts directly and building heat pumps on site. About two-thirds of heat pumps currently installed in Britain are manufactured abroad, but Octopus Energy is among a number of companies hoping to build on early mover advantage to turn the UK into a major heat pump exporter.

The Telegraph

Utility Week’s weekend press round-up is a curation of articles in the national newspapers relating to the energy and water sector. The views expressed are not those of Utility Week or Faversham House.