Government announces policy "to revolutionise how heat is generated and used in buildings"

The Government has announced details of the £860m Renewable Heat Incentive policy to revolutionise the way heat is generated and used in buildings and homes. It's remarkable for a number of reasons:

- Like the Feed-In Tariff, the RHI takes a long-term approach to incentivising installation of renewable heat (from biomass, solar thermal, ground and water source heat-pumps, on-site biogas, deep geothermal, energy from waste and biomethane)

- It’s the first of its kind in the world (i.e. there has never been a separate guideline for renewable heat): it’s a significant move, as around half of the UK’s current carbon emissions come from the energy used to produce heat – more than from generating electricity. In fact over 95% of heat in the UK is currently produced by burning fossil fuel.

- There is one scheme for industry/commercial/public sector and one for the domestic sector: Targets include the expansion of renewable heat in the industrial/commercial 7-fold by 2020. This scheme also gives the opportunities for schools, libraries, community centres and communities of households to install renewable heat.

- A full system of RHI payments will be available to households from October 2012; and the Government says that in the interim, more than a quarter of the first year’s budget will be guaranteed for up to 25,000 household installations through a “RHI Premium Payment” to encourage take-up. Those who sign up to a premium payment must prove

- It will be particularly useful for rural areas because these technologies are often particularly appropriate for areas where there is low density of housing which is not necessarily near mains electricity or gas.

- The initial investment by government is £860m, which is expected to increase green capital investment by £4.5 billion up to 2020. The Government says this will create a large and thriving market in renewable heat

The Department for Energy and Climate Change will seek Parliamentary approval of the regulations in July 2011 and will introduce the tariff scheme after that.

Reactions

We will track further reactions over the coming days, but the main initial criticism is that the scheme excludes air source heat pumps, one technology which is used to produce renewable heat.

YouGen’s Cathy Debenham blogs about the domestic side here:

For first reactions on Twitter follow #rhi

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Existing Homes Alliance advises Green Deal: benefits would mean less CO2, more local jobs & lower energy bills

This month, the government introduced the Energy Bill into Parliament as part of its new Green Deal. The Existing Homes Alliance also recently published recommendations to ensure government efforts help the UK to refurbish its existing housing stock – to bring it in line with the UK’s commitment to cutting carbon emissions 80% by 2050.

Their recommendations cover key areas of the Green Deal. The first is finance: policies must allow the most to be made from the economic opportunities of widespread refurbishment – estimated between £5-15 billion. Secondly, the Existing Homes Alliance stresses that the government must place attention on how the work will be done - by investing in tradesmen and exploring area-based schemes for example - and done well. Shoddy work will make a dent in consumer demand for these changes. Thirdly, the government needs to focus on driving demand, regulating minimum energy performance is a necessary ‘stick’, but ‘carrots’ are also important.

Simon, our UK Business Support Manager, also works with the Existing Homes Alliance. He thinks making these changes will stimulate wider benefits:

"Creating demand for uptake of energy efficiency measures and stimulating the behaviour change that is needed to meet our carbon reduction targets is a tall order – but we can learn a lot from many of our Award winners who have worked hard to engage local communities, help them understand the issues, and take action. If, as a result of rising to this challenge, we get more local jobs, a more buoyant local economy and lower energy bills, then everyone wins."

(Pic: House on the right has been refurbished, including external wall insulation, by 2010 Award winners Northwards Housing)

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ITV visits house with energy bills of less than £100 a year

In September Mike visited The Recycled House at the same time as ITV's Meridian Tonight. The cost of renovations and energy-saving refurbishments at The Recycled House has been £140,000 (with about half of that spent on energy-savings). The result? The Recycled House has cut its carbon emissions by 90%.

Meridian Tonight was impressed by a house with energy bills of less than £100 a year:

“Green technologies like solar panels and tapping into natural heat from the ground are revolutionising the way we light and warm our homes."

Watch the video, which includes an interview with Mike.

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