Baroness Slams Govt: Boiler Upgrade Scheme Falls Short on Green Heating Targets
Baroness Parminter, a Liberal Democrat peer in the House of Lords, has slammed the government for not adequately promoting the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. The scheme aims to replace gas boilers with low-emission heat pumps, but its progress has been slow.
Currently, heating UK homes contributes to around 17% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this significant impact, only 50,000 heat pumps have been installed in UK homes so far. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, launched to tackle this issue, has fallen short of its targets. By the end of last year, only 9,888 vouchers were distributed, far below the annual target of 30,000.
Heat pumps, while more expensive to run initially, are three times more efficient than gas boilers and produce less emissions. However, the scheme's slow progress has led the Lords Climate Change Committee to conclude that the national target for green heating is 'very unlikely' to be met. Baroness Parminter, chair of the committee, has criticized ministers for failing to raise public awareness about the scheme.
The government has acknowledged the scheme's shortcomings and plans to launch a marketing campaign to increase public awareness. However, with the national target for green heating looking uncertain, the success of this scheme remains to be seen.
