The future of heating: a strategic framework for low carbon heat
The Strategy describes what we believe needs to be done for decarbonising heat to contribute to meeting carbon budgets and the 2050 target.
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Heat is the single biggest reason we use energy. Today the vast majority of our heat is produced by burning fossil fuels (around 80% from gas alone) and, as a result, heat is responsible for around a third of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
This is unsustainable. The 2011 Carbon Plan set out that if the UK is to play its part in the global effort to combat climate change, we will need our buildings to be virtually zero carbon by 2050. Achieving this can help reduce our exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices, which are driven overwhelmingly by the wholesale gas price on global markets.
This strategy:
- sets out how we supply and use heat today
- describes how the heat system will need to evolve over time
- identifies the substantial changes required across our economy and the role for government
The document does not propose new policy proposals at this stage, it provides the strategic framework within which polices will be developed.
We invited stakeholders to give us their views. We received nearly 170 responses and we have summarised these in the Summary of Responses.
Our intention is to use the evidence and comments provided to inform the development of policy proposals. Our aim is to produce these proposals by March 2013.