Wood pellets for heat is a readily available, low carbon technology that is widely used in remote, rural and off-gas grid communities, as well as in many thousands of older properties. It is the most suitable and proven option available to a significant number of UK households.
The Government has chosen electrification of heat (ie heat pumps) as its primary and preferred method of decarbonisation. Whilst this technology may suit (with substantially greater funding) more urban areas and newer properties, it is more problematic or often unworkable in rural locations due to a lack of sufficient grid infrastructure.
The Government’s ‘favouring’ of air source heat pumps (ASHP) in its Heat and Buildings Strategy now means that a significant number of rural off-grid constituents are forced down the incorrect route to decarbonisation unless a more equal, technology-agnostic approach is adopted. Whilst ASHPs may make sense for more recently constructed buildings (less than 40 years old) and urban settings, for older properties (where the cost of insulation could be three times the price of the new air source heat pump to enable it to work) it offers no choice at all.
Heat and Buildings/Clean Heat Strategy; reducing CO2 emissions
The Government, it seems, has chosen ASHPs as its ‘preferred or most favoured’ technology for decarbonising heat. Whilst wood pellets is mentioned, it is not fully supported or backed in a way that will encourage or enable rural off-grid properties to move away from fossil fuel use. Many rural areas need network reinforcement that will cost the Government £millions and therefore these hard-to-heat properties need prioritising (especially when a solution exists now).
£100m is set aside to fund 25,000 new installations. Using this methodology, the UK needs to install:
Housing stock
Rural off-grid homes built before 1983 are best suited to energy efficient, biomass boiler systems. It is estimated that 26% of new dwellings (post 1980) could spend £6,000 or less to implement EPC-recommended energy improvement measures. 63% of pre-1919 dwellings would spend over £18,000 and many of these properties are located in rural areas.
Rural and off-gas grid housing stock are the biggest carbon heat polluters using old, inefficient oil and
coal-based boiler systems.Rural homes/businesses need an easy switch to renewable heat and poor gas/electricity grid connections rule out most other promoted heat technologies.
