What has the UK’s carbon budgets got to do with off-gas grid heating? Although it’s a very small piece of the net zero jigsaw, the Government’s plans to phase out the installation of fossil fuels off-the-gas grid formed part of the Government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP). The CBDP is essentially the UK’s road map to net zero.
In 2023, the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, announced he was abandoning several green policies from the UK’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP), including the off-gas grid boiler phase out, which had been due to be implemented in 2024 and 2026. The TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham CBE was granted permission to bring a judicial review challenging the abandonment of these policies.
Following the General Election, a legal settlement has been agreed between the Government and Mr Packham, with the current administration admitting that the previous Government had acted unlawfully. And, as a result of a separate legal challenge, the Government also conceded that the abandonment of these policies meant it failed to meet its obligations under Section 13 of the Climate Change Act 2008.
The CBDP
The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP) will be reviewed in May 2025, and the government must now reconsider the decisions to delay the phase out of off-grid fossil fuel heating and the other cancelled or downgraded policies. In doing so, it is important it doesn’t make the same mistakes as the previous administration by simply attempting to force off-grid households down an unpopular electrification pathway.
OFTEC CEO, Paul Rose, comments: “For off-gas grid heating there is a better solution, which is to embrace a technology inclusive approach, press ahead with the renewable liquid heating fuel obligation consultation, and introduce HVO. We know that introducing HVO would meet the carbon budget saving needed for the off-grid sector. Better still, our industry is ready to do it and we know it will be popular with liquid fuel heating customers. It’s time for the Government to hold the consultation and let us get on with it.”
OFTEC and UKIFDA will continue to lobby for this approach to be adopted through direct engagement with MPs, and our Future Ready Fuel campaign. Your assistance would really help us in the fight to secure a long-term future for liquid fuel heating and you can find out how to join the campaign on page 5.
Image credit: OFTEC
