The dash to ditch gas for hydrogen boilers

Ministers step up drive to cut fossil fuel use in next decade

TRADITIONAL gas boilers in homes should soon be replaced by ‘low-carbon’ technology such as hydrogen-powered heaters, the Government said yesterday.

Under plans in a new energy White Paper, no new-build homes will be gas-powered after 2025 to mark a ‘decisive shift’ away from fossil fuels.

And by 2035, ministers expect no new gas boilers will be installed as part of the programme to cut Britain’s CO2 emissions to stop global warming.

They should be replaced by ‘low carbon’ methods of heating homes such as heat pumps, which extract heat from the ground or air, or hydrogen-powered boilers, the paper says.

It comes as the Government said it was restarting talks with energy giant EDF about building a £20 billion nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast.

Gas boilers are being banned because they produce carbon dioxide when they burn, increasing the greenhouse effect – described by Boris Johnson as ‘quilting a toxic tea cosy’ around the Earth.

The UK does not currently have the capacity to produce hydrogen gas at the scale required to replace natural gas, but Business Secretary Alok Sharma said yesterday it was hoped that by 2030, the hydrogen produced would be the equivalent of 5 gigawatts of electricity – currently less than 5 per cent of the country’s electricity generating capacity total.

To fulfil demand, installations of heat pumps will need to soar. Currently 30,000 of the devices are put in each year – that will need to increase to 600,000 a year by 2028, according to estimates.

The move to scrap boilers is one of a raft of measures to cut fossil fuel use, which ministers hope will create 220,000 jobs. The Government said its strategy will cut UK carbon emissions by 230 million metric tonnes over the next decade, equivalent to permanently removing 7.5 million petrol cars from the roads.

Other plans include banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vans by 2030, and making walking and cycling more attractive forms of travel. Ministers also hope to quadruple offshore windpower by 2030, and to support research projects to produce zero-emission planes and ships.

The White Paper also says that all homes will need to radically improve their energy performance. Homes are rated from a top mark of A to an E, with the average British home being a D.

The Government is now calling for the average rating to be a B by 2030. Estate agents Savills says upgrading a home from D to B would cost more than £18,000 on features such as insulation, double glazing, draughtproofing and LED lighting.

Mr Sharma said: ‘Today’s plan establishes a decisive and permanent shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels, towards cleaner energy sources that will put our country at the forefront of the global green industrial revolution.’