Boiler vouchers will help just 90,000 households go green

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Just 90,000 UK households will get vouchers to help shoulder the growing cost of removing their gas boilers as Ministers commit to banning the sale of gas boilers in the country from 2035.

Boris Johnson is pressing ahead with plans to stop the installation of conventional gas boilers in the next 15 years, despite Conservative warnings that the move could spark fury among the public. 

Millions of families will not be forced to remove their existing boilers, but encouraged to install low-carbon heating systems with £5,000 grants from April at a cost of at least £450million to taxpayers in England and Wales.

However, the funding will allow just 90,000 heat pump installations over three years – far short of the Prime Minister’s goal of 600,000 a year by 2028. Critics are likely to ask whether the vouchers will prove impactful if just a fraction of the country can benefit, with concerns that people who had already planned to switch will mainly benefit from the scheme.

Tory former minister Steve Baker last night warned that the Government is likely to face a backlash when voters realise the costs involved of switching away from gas, adding: ‘It is not clear to me how a boiler ban is going to be affordable for the public.’ 

The voucher scheme was one part of the Heat and Buildings Strategy due to be published on Tuesday, which will map out how the UK will move away from polluting energy sources in homes and public buildings. 

It comes amid reports of rising tensions between the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak as the Treasury warned of ‘diminishing returns’ from green investment.

The decision also came as Prince Charles warned about the consequences of climate change, and told how his grandson Prince George learning how global warming was causing ‘the big storms, and floods, the droughts, fires and food shortages’ around the world.  

As the UK’s skills shortage hits all areas of British life, Charlie Mullins from Pimlico Plumbers, believes putting new energy sources into 30million-plus homes ‘would keep the country’s current crop of heating engineers busy for a hundred years’.

There are also major questions about how some of these new solutions such as ground source heat pumps, can work for the millions of small homes and flats in Britain’s cities because they need a hole between 50ft and 300ft deep – or long trenches measuring around 7,000sqft in the garden or grounds.  

And cheaper alternatives such as solar panels are not as dear, but Britain’s changeable weather means they are simply not as reliable.

Ministers say that householders will not be forced to get rid of their existing gas boilers, and they hope the price of green alternatives will have come down by the time the time the ban on new boilers is introduced in 2035. 

Charlie Mullins, founder of Pimlico Plumbers, said of the boiler scrappage target recently: ‘We need targets that relate to the real world, targets that when you look at the technology and infrastructure available are realistic. That’s what will get the UK greener, and if we keep up paying lip service to pie in the sky stuff it will take longer because nobody will engage with the issue.

‘Heat pumps cannot currently produce the energy to heat water sufficiently, and there is even the suggestion that they may increase the risks from Legionnaires Disease, and as far as hydrogen boilers are concerned, they are only in the prototype stage, so you can’t just go out and get one.

‘And even if you could there’s the small problem of the lack of a hydrogen pipeline so that the green gas would be available to households and businesses.

‘And finally the massive effort it would take to get the UK’s 30 odd million dwellings swapped out from old gas to green energy on the government’s timetable would keep the country’s current crop of heating engineers busy for a hundred years.

‘We already have a massive skills shortage in this area as a result of decades of undertraining and sending everyone to university to study English or sociology rather than signing up more apprentices in the building trades. So my message to ministers is – get real if you want anything to change.’

There are also major doubts that Britain’s workforce of heating engineers is large enough, or has the expertise and training, to change heating systems in most of Britain’s homes. 

It comes as a leaked briefing ahead of the COP26 summit says the spending needed to achieve Net Zero is ‘uncertain’ and the positive impact of ‘ever more investment’ in greening the economy is likely to reduce. 

The document, which according to the Observer accompanied a presentation to key groups outside government, also cautioned that tax rises could be required to balance the ‘erosion of tax revenue from fossil-fuel related activity’.

As frictions bubble up between the two most powerful figures in government ahead of the Budget on October 27 and crucial summit, Treasury officials have also been complaining about ‘economic illiteracy’ at No10 over lavish spending promises and the danger of inflation running out of control. 

There are claims that Mr Sunak privately lamented the ‘sh**show’ in Downing Street at the height of the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, the Chancellor also faces a wave of counter-briefing, with swipes that he is turning into Bond villain ‘Dr No’ and has been ‘rattled’ by the possibility that he could be replaced. 

The infighting emerged as the PM tries to position the UK at the forefront of the battle against climate change, with the UN summit taking place in Glasgow in a fortnight.

The feuding hit a new level last week as No11 brutally slapped down Kwasi Kwarteng over his public suggestion of a bailout for energy-intensive firms struggling with soaring gas prices – only to be effectively overruled by Mr Johnson.

An admirer of Mr Sunak told the Sunday Times that the relations between the Chancellor and the PM were now starting to resemble those between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

However, they pointed out that in this case there was no doubt about who was in charge of government policy. 

‘I’ve been watching the Blair-Brown documentary and I’m worried we are falling into the same thing with Boris and Rishi only this time it is the prime minister with the ”great clunking fist”,’ they said. 

Tory aides pointed out that new Foreign Secretary Liz Truss openly covets the Treasury job and Mr Sunak is ‘rattled’. 

‘Rishi has become Dr No, while Liz is Mrs Yes, Yes, Yes,’ a former minister said.

Rumours have been circulating that Mr Johnson appointed 6ft 5in Simon Clarke as Treasury Chief Secretary partly as a joke at the expense of the rather more diminutive Mr Sunak.

One senior Tory told the Sunday Times that a crunch moment is approaching on the PM’s free-spending habits. 

‘The moment is coming, a bit like Nigel Lawson and Mrs T, where he will have to make a decision as the chancellor whether he is going to continue going along with it,’ they said. 

The problems could be exacerbated as the Government unveils its details plans for achieving Net Zero today, detailing the full list of changes being adopted so that the UK can reduce its carbon emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2050.

Mr Johnson will deliver a speech later today outlining the case for the drive to go green, with less than two weeks before world leaders descend on Glasgow for the COP26 climate change summit.  

Writing in The Sun, the Prime Minister vowed ‘the greenshirts of the boiler police’ won’t kick down doors to rip out dirty gas boilers and said no one will have their ‘trusty old combi’ torn out by ‘sandal-clad’ inspectors. 

‘We’re going to make carbon-free alternatives cheaper to install so that when you or your landlord next come to replace your boiler it makes more sense to go with a cleaner, more efficient replacement that you know will help the planet,’ Mr Johnson added.

However, the Prime Minister admitted in an interview with Bloomberg that COP26 talks will be ‘extremely tough’, with the leaders of major polluting countries such as China snubbing the conference.  

The boiler plans are outlined in the Government’s long-awaited ‘heat and buildings strategy’, to be published today. 

Switching to low carbon heating in the coming years will cut emissions, and reduce the UK’s dependency on fossil fuels and exposure to global price spikes in gas, the Government said.

Government sources also confirmed ministers will press ahead later this year with a plan to pile new ‘green’ levies on to gas bills. Levies on electricity will be cut in a bid to persuade consumers to switch to greener energy. 

Friends of the Earth’s Mike Childs said the Government’s plans were ‘quite modest’.  

He added: ‘Housing is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise but the Government is making it all the more difficult by leaving half its tools in the toolbox, with unambitious policies and inadequate funding.’

The Prime Minister said last night: ‘As we clean up the way we heat our homes over the next decade, we are backing our brilliant innovators to make clean technology like heat pumps as cheap to buy and run as gas boilers – supporting thousands of green jobs. Our new grants will help homeowners make the switch sooner.’

Mr Johnson is to announce £9.7billion of overseas investment in the UK, creating 30,000 jobs, Downing Street said. 

The deals will support growth in areas such as wind energy, sustainable homes and carbon capture.

The Prime Minister will today host business leaders including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at the Global Investment Summit at the Science Museum in London.

Yesterday also saw Ford reveal it is investing £230million to transform its Halewood factory on Merseyside to help build a new generation of zero-emissions cars. Its first electric vehicle parts hub in Europe will safeguard 500 jobs. 

Prince Charles was introducing a documentary ahead of Cop26. He is shown holding a revolving earth in the footage, telling viewers: ‘Your future depends upon the future of the planet.’

The Sky Kids documentary Cop26: In Your Hands features six young activists who highlight the impact of climate change on their corners of the Earth. The prince tells viewers: ‘I’m old enough to have a grandson.

‘Like you, he is learning how climate change is causing the big storms, and floods, the droughts, fires and food shortages we are seeing around the world.’    

How much will gas boiler alternatives cost you? 

GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS (£14,000 – £19,000)

Ground source heat pumps use pipes buried in the garden to extract heat from the ground, which can then heat radiators, warm air heating systems and hot water.

They circulate a mixture of water and antifreeze around a ground loop pipe. Heat from the ground is absorbed into the fluid and then passes through a heat exchanger.

Installation costs between £14,000 to £19,000 depending on the length of the loop, and running costs will depend on the size of the home and its insulation.

Users may be able to receive payments for the heat they generate through the Government’s renewable heat incentive. The systems normally come with a two or three year warranty – and work for at least 20 years, with a professional check every three to five years. 

AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS (£11,000)

Air source heat pumps absorb heat from the outside air at low temperature into a fluid to heat your house and hot water. They can still extract heat when it is as cold as -15C (5F), with the fluid passing through a compressor which warms it up and transfers it into a heating circuit.

They extract renewable heat from the environment, meaning the heat output is greater than the electricity input – and they are therefore seen as energy efficient.

There are two types, which are air-to-water and air-to-air, and installing a system costs £9,000 to £11,000, depending on the size of your home and its insulation.

A typical three-bedroom home is said to be able to save £2,755 in ten years by using this instead of a gas boiler.

HYDROGEN BOILERS (£1,500 – £5,000)

Hydrogen boilers are still only at the prototype phase, but they are being developed so they can run on hydrogen gas or natural gas – so can therefore convert without a new heating system being required.

The main benefit of hydrogen is that produces no carbon dioxide at the point of use, and can be manufactured from either water using electricity as a renewable energy source, or from natural gas accompanied by carbon capture and storage.

A hydrogen-ready boiler is intended to be a like-for-like swap for an existing gas boiler, but the cost is unknown, with estimates ranging from £1,500 to £5,000.

The boiler is constructed and works in mostly the same way as an existing condensing boiler, with Worcester Bosch – which is producing a prototype – saying converting a hydrogen-ready boiler from natural gas to hydrogen will take a trained engineer around an hour.

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS (£4,800)

Solar photovoltaic panels generate renewable electricity by converting energy from the sun into electricity, with experts saying they will cut electricity bills.

Options include panels fitted on a sloping south-facing roof or flat roof, ground-standing panels or solar tiles – with each suitable for different settings. They are made from layers of semi-conducting material, normally silicon, and electrons are knocked loose when light shines on the material which creates an electricity flow.

The cells can work on a cloudy day but generate more electricity when the sunshine is stronger. The electricity generated is direct current (DC), while household appliances normally use alternating current (AC) – and an inverter is therefore installed with the system.

The average domestic solar PV system is 3.5 kilowatts peak (kWp) – the rate at which energy is generated at peak performance, such as on a sunny afternoon. A 1kWp set of panels will produce an average of 900kWh per year in optimal conditions, and the cost is £4,800.

SOLAR WATER HEATING (£5,000)

Solar water heating systems, or solar thermal systems, use heat from the sun to warm domestic hot water.

A conventional boiler or immersion heater can then be used to make the water hotter, or to provide hot water when solar energy is unavailable.

The system works by circulating a liquid through a panel on a roof, or on a wall or ground-mounted system.

The panels absorb heat from the sun, which is used to warm water kept in a cylinder, and those with the system will require a fair amount of roof space receiving direct sunlight for much of the day to make it effectively.

The cost of installing a typical system is between £4,000 and £5,000, but the savings are lower than other options because it is not as effective in the winter months.

BIOMASS BOILERS (£5,000 – £19,000)

The renewable energy source of biomass is generated from burning wood, plants and other organic matter such as manure or household waste. It releases carbon dioxide when burned, but much less than fossil fuels.

Biomass heating systems can burn wood pellets, chips or logs to heat a single room or power central heating and hot water boilers.

A stove can also be fitted with a back boiler to provide water heating, and experts say a wood-fuelled biomass boiler could save up to £700 a year compared to a standard electric heating system.

An automatically-fed pellet boiler for an average home costs between £11,000 and £19,000, including installation, flue and fuel store. Manually fed log boiler systems can be slightly cheaper, while a smaller domestic biomass boiler starts at £5,000.