The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has launched an inquiry into decarbonising heat in UK homes.

The Committee will analyse the Government’s Buildings and Heat Strategy due in November, considering the priorities and timescales required to decarbonise domestic heat as part of the UK’s net zero commitments.

Currently, homes account for 15% of UK carbon emissions and less than 5% of heat is from low-carbon heat sources. To achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, all UK homes will need to be decarbonised in the next 30 years.

Darren Jones, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, said:

“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.”