Net Zero, and How to Decarbonise Rural Homes

08/08/2023

Several newspapers and media outlets have published stories today about the plan to ban new oil boilers from 2026 for domestic homes.

This will leave many in the countryside with no choice but to install an air or ground source heat pump. However, due to their age and size, many rural homes are not suited to this method of heating.

There is another way.

With a small modification, existing oil boilers can run on renewable fuel, and reduce their net carbon emissions by up to 90% versus normal heating oil. This renewable fuel, also known as HVO, means it is wrong to simply outlaw new installations of traditional boilers in the name of Net Zero – We can get 90% of the way there using existing equipment and infrastructure.

George Eustice MP is proposing an amendment to the Energy Bill to bring down the cost of HVO, as well as to remove the ban on new oil boilers.

“Many of our off-grid customers live in rural communities, with older properties who face real and serious challenges about how to decarbonise their home heating. They have told us they need to be given a choice of how they can do this in an affordable way which results in minimal disruption. This is the reason why our industry over the last 2 years has invested time, effort and money – without government subsidy – on developing a solution, using renewable liquid fuel as a replacement fuel for kerosene. We have successfully demonstrated this solution in 150 sites across the UK, including churches, schools, historic building buildings, pubs and residential homes. The conversion from oil to these renewable fuels can be done quickly, at a reasonable upfront cost and without disruption and it results in immediate reductions in carbon emissions. Our industry, members and customers are urging the Government to support George Eustice’s amendment to the Energy Bill, which will bring the cost of these fuels down for consumers, as they already have in transport, while costing the taxpayer nothing.”

Paul Rose, Chief Executive of OFTEC (Oil Firing Technical Association)

Ken Cronin, Chief Executive of UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA)

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