Government update on heat strategy

One year on from the launch of the UK’s first ever heat strategy, the Government has set out the next steps to ensure low carbon heating plays an important role in the nation’s energy mix.

The scale of the challenge is huge, with over 80% of heating used in UK homes, businesses and industry produced by burning fossil fuels, and over a third of the UK’s carbon emissions coming from the energy used to produce heat.

However, ministers are committed to low-carbon alternatives and the  latest action plan looks at the potential to cut emissions from heat across the whole UK economy.

It focuses on a number of key actions including:

A £9 million package to help local authorities get heat network schemes up and running in towns and cities across the country, with a new Heat Networks Delivery Unit to sit within the Department of Energy and Climate Change providing expert advice.

£1 million for the cities of Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Nottingham to help them develop heat networks.

100 green apprenticeships to be funded primarily for young people in small scale renewable technologies.

Up to £250,000 for a new first come first served voucher scheme for heating installers to get money off the cost of renewable heating kit installation training, with up to £500 or 75 per cent of the cost of the training course per person.

Working with individual industrial sectors to design long term pathways to cut carbon across UK industry.

There are also a number of low carbon heat case studies in the action plan, including the first ever biomethane installation and the gas CHP plant which provides heat to the Shard in London.