The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has launched an inquiry examining the path to decarbonising heating in homes.
UKCRC has decided to submit a centralised response to the BEIS decarbonising heat in homes inquiry call for evidence.
There are eight specific questions to which we should provide a UKCRC response. The timeframe is short – the deadline is Friday 13th November. Prof Patrick James based at the National Infrastructure Laboratory, University of Southampton, has agreed to write the combined response. His areas of interest include building retrofit and energy performance gap, with a particular focus on social housing.
Please provide your responses to hello@ukcric.com by 15:00 on Friday 6th November.
The combined response will be made available on Wednesday 11th November for contributors to check prior to submission on Friday 13th November. We plan to have an online call on Thursday 12th November to clarify points with contributors. The questions are as follows - please provide a separate response to each question.
1. What has been the impact of past and current policies for low carbon heat, and what lessons can be learnt, including examples from devolved administrations and international comparators?
2. What key policies, priorities and timelines should be included in the Government’s forthcoming ‘Buildings and Heat Strategy’ to ensure that the UK is on track to deliver Net Zero? What are the most urgent decisions and actions that need to be taken over the course of this Parliament (by 2024)?
3. Which technologies are the most viable to deliver the decarbonisation of heating, and what would be the most appropriate mix of technologies across the UK?
4. What are the barriers to scaling up low carbon heating technologies? What is needed to overcome these barriers?
5. How can the costs of decarbonising heat be distributed fairly across consumers, taxpayers, business and government, taking account of the fuel poor and communities affected by the transition? What is the impact of the existing distribution of environmental levies across electricity, gas and fuel bills on drivers for switching to low carbon heating, and should this distribution be reviewed?
6. What incentives and regulatory measures should be employed to encourage and ensure households take up low carbon heat, and how will these need to vary for different household types?
7. What action is required to ensure that households are engaged, informed, supported and protected during the transition to low carbon heat, including measures to minimise disruption in homes and to maintain consumer choice?
8. Where should responsibility lie for the governance, coordination and delivery of low carbon heating? What will these organisations need in order to deliver such responsibilities?
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