New college will be undergoing a ‘carbonisation of heating’ survey, to evaluate our impact on the release of carbon emissions to aid us in working towards our net-zero goal. Our aim is to reduce the amount of carbon produced by the heating systems we currently occupy.
So why is decarbonisation of heating important to us?… Here’s what you need to know:
In comparison to other European countries like Sweden, only using 29g of CO2 per kilowatt hour of heating, the UK uses a whopping 185g. The government has finally announced the ‘Heating and buildings strategy,’ replacing fossil fuel heating with low-carbon alternatives. Adventuring away from gas boilers, providing better insulation in buildings, and encouraging renewable heating systems, which are both environmentally and financially beneficial, will have an astronomical impact in reducing our carbon footprints.
However, to reach this goal there are many challenges and setbacks to face. Firstly, funding. The goal of 600,000 installations per year seems near impossible when the funding discussed (£450 million, over 3 years) is only suitable for 30,000 heat pumps annually. Therefore, the net-zero 2050 target will not be reached. Another problem is how the process of providing the installation of heating alternatives, and insulation, will produce substantial carbon emissions, which the new systems may take many years to repay. Also, the electricity demand caused by the recent technologies may have negative impacts, such as frequent and wide-ranged power cuts.
In contrast, there are many solutions to the problematic challenges we face.
– For heat pumps, we could reduce and control the usage of electricity by linking smart meters and identifying when most of the spare electricity is available across the grid.
– We will have to accumulate better materials and forms of insulation for buildings.
– Also, installing more wind and solar energy providers to make the energy grid more environmentally friendly.
Although this is a lengthy process, New college is determined to progressively become more sustainable; cutting down our carbon emissions will get us one step closer to reducing the impacts of climate change.
For more information, here are some links to websites which explain this topic in more detail: Heat pumps: UK to install 600,000 a year by 2028 but electrical grid will need massive investment to cope (theconversation.com) and Heat and buildings strategy: the good, bad and ugly of the UK’s plan to replace gas boilers (theconversation.com)