A joint OFTEC and UKIFDA initiative, ‘Future Ready Fuel’ has got off to a flying start. The new information website www.futurereadyfuel.info received over 7,000 visits within the first six weeks of the campaign, while over 2,000 consumers have signed up to receive updates on the new fuel, which could be commercially available as soon as next year.
This highly encouraging response has been greatly helped by those OFTEC heating technicians and UKIFDA fuel suppliers who are handing out the Future Ready Fuel flyer at every customer visit. So, if you haven’t already done so, please add your support to the campaign and order your FREE leaflets today by emailing marketing@oftec.org.
The Future Ready Fuel Twitter and Facebook accounts are also gaining followers by the day so please do link to these and encourage your customers to do the same so they can pick up the latest HVO news.
You may have also seen Future Ready Fuel adverts appear on your Facebook feed, encouraging more rural households to visit the new website and find out how they can support the drive to make HVO a reality.
Renewable liquid fuels such as HVO offer oil heating customers a simpler, more affordable way to decarbonise their homes – and the route to a secure future for our industry. That’s why your help is needed now to spread the word about Future Ready Fuels.
As part of UK wide trials, HVO is already successfully running in over 20 properties up and down the country, with plans to significantly expand the project over the coming months. Read on to find out more.
Top minister visits Cornish school on HVO
One of the HVO success stories is the first primary school in the UK to switch from heating oil to HVO, attracting a visit from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the process.
George Eustice MP made the trip to Gwinear Primary School in Cornwall to see the new fossil free fuel, which is made from sustainably certified waste materials, in action.
During the visit, Mr Eustice said: “HVO could be a very important stepping stone on the way to net zero in rural areas like this. There are a lot of people still reliant on oil fired boilers and this is a more environmentally-friendly fuel.”
The school is being provided with the new fuel by South West heating oil supplier, Mitchell and Webber.
Gwinear headmaster, Lee Gardiner, added: “Our school is an historic building, so it is extremely difficult to insulate using more modern techniques. Installing a completely new heating system would likely be disruptive to daily school life and could damage such an important structure. So, when I saw the success of HVO conversions in other settings across Cornwall, I knew I had found the perfect option for Gwinear!”
HVO is the answer to a church’s prayers
Another more unusual building taking part in the trials is the first church in the country to run on the new fuel, again supplied by Mitchell & Webber.
The installation came about after Stithians Methodist Church put out a call on its local Cornish radio station for ideas to make the building more environmentally friendly. Mitchell & Webber quickly responded and a few days later, the historic building was using the fossil free fuel.
Dating back to 1865, the church would have proved unsuitable for alternative low carbon heating solutions such as a heat pump without extensive and expensive insulation measures that would ruin the structure and character of the Victorian building.
The Church Committee is delighted with the simple, inexpensive switch to HVO and hopes other places of worship will follow their lead once the fuel becomes more widely available.
Cheers to an HVO future!
In the East of England, a further HVO first is underway as a 300-year-old pub undergoes a conversion to HVO.
The Five Horseshoes Inn in the South Lincolnshire village of Barholm is set in a conservation area and like many other older, rural properties, is energy inefficient.
The building has uninsulated solid walls and solid and suspended timber floors, plus single glazing in most doors and windows. As a result, the pub is expensive to heat and remains cold in the winter.
The transition to HVO has been supported by St Neots-based EOGB Energy Products, which has replaced the old 1970s oil fired boiler with an HVO modulating boiler and smart controls. Crown Oil Limited has also provided a new bunded steel oil storage tank.
OFTEC is supplying the pub with HVO and landlady, Emma Freeman is delighted to be taking part in the pioneering trials: “For us, the conversion ticks two boxes. From an energy point of view the place will be much warmer thanks to a better heating system and improved insulation, and environmentally, we know we are doing our bit to make a difference.”
You can do your bit to make a difference too by joining our drive to support the future of the liquid fuel heating industry. Get behind the Future Ready Fuel campaign and help to us deliver an HVO solution for oil heated homes.
