The ADE welcomes the Spring Statement announcement that all new homes from 2025 must be heated from low carbon sources and have world-leading levels of efficiency. This policy needs to ensure the homes are both green and cheap to run. Government’s ambition on green gas is vital and this valuable resource must be efficiently used to decarbonise business and industry. Government’s consultation on the business energy efficiency announced in 2018 is also encouraging but there has been a lot of waiting in this sector for action. Bold leadership on driving down energy waste is needed. The decarbonisation of heat must be a priority for Government if we are to meet our climate change commitments. We have had great success in decarbonising power and now must turn attention to heat, which accounts for 35% of our carbon emissions. The ban on fossil heat in new homes follows last year’s announcement that Government intends to regulate heat networks. Regulation and the reduction of investment risk on heat networks is key for meeting these growth targets and we continue to work with Government in developing the proposed regulatory framework.
