The UK government has published its Heat and Buildings Strategy, a plan to replace fossil-fuelled heating like gas boilers with low-carbon technologies such as heat pumps. This is a comprehensive and groundbreaking strategy that flags a range of complex issues involved in solving a problem like decarbonising heat.
Natural gas boilers are seen as one of the biggest barriers to the net zero target — they produce 58.5 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, compared to 27 million cars emitting 56 million tons annually, the National Housing Federation says.
With a ban on new build natural gas fired domestic boilers not far off, there is considerable uncertainty about what will happen and what the best options are for individual circumstances. The aim of the legislation is to reduce emissions that are driving climate change but will it actually achieve this purpose? What is needed in the way of guidance and incentives to achieve the underlying objectives?
The aim of this year’s Great Debate event is to update the audience on these issues and to provide a forum for those attending to ask questions of the experts.
Professor Denise Morey from Oxford Brookes University will act as Moderator to chair the event, introduce the speakers and put questions to the panel. (Questions will come via the chat function and will be monitored by a team, grouped where appropriate, and fed to the Moderator)
The topics for the four presentations are as follows:
- Setting the scene – Dr Hannah Bloomfield
Why are the changes happening and what it will all mean? How reliant are we on gas fueled system currently? Will the supply network become uneconomic or unstable as volume reduces? What might be the impact for other gas users?
- Electrical based alternatives – Professor Robert Gross, Director, UK Energy Research Centre
What are the options using electricity as the energy source? This includes direct systems and also newer technology such as heat pumps. There are also options to use local generation such as solar panels and local storage to smooth demand levels.
- Hydrogen systems – Anthony Green, Hydrogen Director, National Grid
To what extent could natural gas be replaced by hydrogen? Is a changeover of the existing supply system viable and what would be required? What would need to be done in individual homes and how would it be possible to ensure that this was done and safe before a changeover? Would it be more appropriate for district heating systems and should these be encouraged?
- Ensuring new build delivers carbon reductions - Professor Rajat Gupta, Professor of Sustainable Architecture and Climate Change & Director of the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD)
Modifying our existing housing stock is a major challenge but should we adopt new approaches for new houses to minimize carbon emissions in a sensible and sustainable way?
The event will follow the same format as previous Great Debates. There will be four 12 minute presentations on issues relevant to the future of domestic heating with the speakers then forming a panel to answer questions and respond to points made by the audience.
