The heating challenge – rolling the heat decarbonisation boulder
23% of UK greenhouse gas emissions come from heating our buildings. That’s because we burn fossil fuels like gas, oil and LPG. Put simply, burning fossil fuels for heat is bad for the planet. So we need to change how we heat our homes and businesses. This challenge involves changing the fuel for heating and the heating systems in homes and workplaces.
To give a sense of the scale of the challenge, 83% of UK homes with central heating rely on fossil gas as the fuel. That’s 22 million homes. Another 5 million homes rely on oil. 15 million (or 60%) homes in England have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of band D or below, suggesting they are inefficient and lose heat quickly.
While the scale of the challenge is large, we have made this sort of change before. In the 20th century, we switched from open coal fires to gas central heating. We also electrified millions of homes between 1919 and 1939. Both transformed people’s lives. We have all the tools and technologies to meet the heating challenge of the 21st century. And we have support from the people who matter. 90% of people say it is quite or very important that the UK makes a full transition towards greener heating systems.
Rolling the heat decarbonisation boulder
The technology exists to electrify heating and we are doing so right now. People are installing heat pumps and/or thermal storage, the grid is connecting renewable generation and we have the software to manage the intermittency. Over 50% of homes now have smart meters which can work with time of use tariffs. Electricity has provided heat flexibility for decades, with Economy 7 tariffs and storage heaters installed from the 1970s to make use of baseload power overnight. So, the heating challenge is one of coordinating change at speed. It is a challenge of scaling up.
As we electrify heating, coordination is needed between retailers, energy networks and heating engineers. We are relying onhomeowners, landlords, tenants and businesses to see the value in not burning fossil fuels and be prepared to change how they generate and store heat. There is lots of great thinking on the coordinated change required in excellent reports from National Grid, Aurora and Regen and in the UK government’s Heat and Building Strategy. The National Grid report rightly highlights that this coordination requires reform to investment, markets, the roles and responsibilities of end-users and the energy industry and digitalisation.
But we need to act quickly as well. Recent months have acted as a reminder that Britain is a net importer of fossil fuels, with prices set on international spot markets. To reduce our exposure to imported fossil fuels requires ongoing investment in a mix of electricity generation technologies and electrifying transport and heat. The best time to start is now.
I think of net zero energy policy as three big boulders rolling down a hill. The journey is bumpy but the destination is inevitable. There is momentum behind the boulders for electric vehicles and more wind and solar power - they are already rolling nicely. The boulder to electrify heating is slowly moving but needs nudging to get it up to full speed.
We need to work together to get the heat decarbonisation boulder rolling. Changes will involve heating engineers to install new products, software engineers to ensure they operate smartly, and builders to reduce thermal loss. Networks and energy retailers must ensure pricing is fair and that flexibility is valued, while regulators should play a new oversight role for heating. Government should make the big calls where the market cannot, and otherwise act as a facilitator of the transition.
Getting the heat decarbonisation boulder rolling means working with other organisations and sharing data and lessons openly. A good example of this openness was the launch in March 2022 of Utility Week’s Heat Council, which Thermal Storage UK is delighted to be part of.
In that spirit of collaboration and openness, I’d recommend the Sustainable Renovation guide and the BEIS research paper on heat distribution systems. There is good advice on The Heating Hub, the Energy Saving Trust and Simple Energy Advice and podcasts like Cleaning Up, The Interchange and Betateach. For informative Twitter threads on heating, follow Richard Lowes (heatpolicyrich), Jess Ralston (jessralston2), Andrew Sissons (ACJSissons), Dhara Vyas (dhara_vyas) and David Watson (davidwatson_).
The role of thermal storage in providing flexibility
Thermal storage is one part of the technology mix that will help decarbonise heating in an increasingly renewable electricity grid. Thermal storage allows people to create and store heat for use later via dedicated products fitted into their homes or businesses. Thermal storage can work with, or instead of, technologies like heat pumps. The right electric heating product will depend on the building and the owner’s preferences.
Storing heat for later to reduce daily peak demand should keep costs down for the individual. But thermal storage also keeps costs down for everyone by reducing network infrastructure upgrades and avoiding building unnecessary generation. This flexibility is why the National Grid Future Energy Scenarios sees up to 60% of UK homes having thermal storage by 2050. And why Regen’s “Day in the Life” report highlighted the role of thermal storage in managing periods of high demand and low renewable generation in winter.
That’s why I’ve launched Thermal Storage UK. We’re a new trade association promoting the use of thermal storage to achieve net zero. We represent British companies offering modern thermal storage products. If you’re interested in the issue of flexibility or in the trade association, I’d love to hear from you. Take a look at www.thermalstorage.org.uk and follow us on Twitter at thermal_storage.
Let’s get the heat decarbonisation boulder rolling quickly.
Tom Lowe
The views expressed here belong to Thermal Storage UK, rather than members of the trade association (although I expect they agree with most of this). A version of this blog was first published by Cornwall Insights in their excellent weekly, Energy Spectrum.