The heating of buildings in the UK represents nearly half of our fossil fuel consumption and just over half of this (55%) is for our domestic homes [1]. It is vitally important, therefore, that Britain’s climate change strategy targets the amount of carbon emissions that is produced as a consequence of the heating of buildings. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is the latest policy document to emerge from the Department of Energy and Climate Change. It was announced on 10th March 2011 as a means to ‘revolutionise the way heat is generated and used in buildings and homes’ [2]. Its objective is to provide a financial incentive to transfer to renewable heat technologies from fossil fuels.
While this is encouraging legislation, Britain is still quite far behind countries such as Denmark who have lead the way in sustainable energy planning since the 1970’s oil crisis [3]. The city of Copenhagen has developed local district heating schemes, which generate energy from waste, wind, ground and unused heat from industry [3]. Households are able to connect to these local systems, thereby reducing their reliance on oil and the effect of fluctuating oil prices and creating greater energy security for the city [3].
The RHI policy for the UK is the first of its kind and will act to support the wider adoption of renewable technologies [3]. There is a reasonably wide-ranging list of technologies that will be promoted and supported:
- Biomass boilers
- Solar Thermal
- Ground Source Heat Pumps
- Water Source Heat Pumps
- On-Site Biogas combustion
- Deep Geothermal
- Energy from Municipal Solid Waste
- Injection of biomethane into the grid
The scheme is to be rolled out in two phases. The first phase will target big emitters from the non-domestic sector, giving them long-term tariff support. This phase will also introduce Renewable Heat Premium Payments (a total of £15 million), which will be used for payments to households who install renewable heating [2]. Households that take up this offer will provide feedback on the system and how it works [2]. The second phase of the scheme will provide long-term tariff support to the domestic sector (in 2012). The payments will be made quarterly over a 20-year period and the tariff levels have been calculated to bridge the gap between the cost of non-renewable and renewable heat systems [2].
Overall by 2020, the scheme is expected to have generated 13,000 installations in industry and 110,000 in the commercial and public sectors [2]. These combined should generate around 57TWh of renewable heat [2]. Once you have installed a renewable heat system into your property, you will measure the amount of heat the system produces. The payment you receive will depend on the amount of heat that is produced and the type and size of the renewable system [4]. The funding for the policy will come from the Treasury (i.e. the taxpayer) and will be administered by Ofgem [4].
Overall, the scheme should help to accelerate Britain’s progress towards a lower carbon economy, thereby reducing our reliance on oil and other fossil fuels. If we are to reach the current target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 then schemes like this need to be adopted quickly and rolled out nationwide, ensuring that they are accessible to everyone. They should not be seen as an alternative option or a more expensive option, but as the natural path to take for homeowners who want to reduce their energy costs and reliance on fossil fuels.
References
[1] Burning Issues, The Financial Times (2nd April 2010, Paul Miles).
[2] Department for Energy and Climate Change (2010)[Online]. Available from http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/renewable/policy/incentive/incentive.aspx
[3] Hallmarks of a sustainable city, CABE (2009).
[4] The Renewable Heat Incentive (2011) [Online] http://www.rhincentive.co.uk/RHI/
