AIR CONDITIONING
Heat pump drive to achieve net zero targets
New government proposals for rapid investment in sustainable technologies to help accelerate the road to low carbon heat are being adopted and a key area for market growth is in the installation of air source heat pumps. Simon Brown, UK business development manager for air-to-water heat pumps at Panasonic, highlights the opportunities.
A
ccording to CBI President and Heat Commission Chair, Lord Karan Bilimoria, action is now urgently required to meet
the ambitious government target of net zero emissions by 2050. His comments are contained in the Heat Commission report where he says: “A green recovery and progress towards the UK’s net-zero emission target are doomed to fail if we don’t address the urgent need to decarbonise the heat in our homes and buildings. Aside from the moral imperative, there is also a strong economic case for protecting our planet. Large scale heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency would provide a huge jobs boost for the economy at a time when new career opportunities are needed more than ever.”
As we start to come out of the pandemic and the road to recovery begins, manufacturers are stepping up to the challenge to meet these net zero emission targets by 2050. A huge opportunity exists, as identified both by the government and industry associations such as the UK Heat Pump Association and CBI, that needs to be addressed and that is to offer homeowners viable and attractive alternatives to the very significant number of fossil-fuelled boilers (mains gas, oil and LPG) currently installed in residential homes. The Government’s aim is to allow only low
carbon energy systems to be installed into new build homes from 2025 and replace all existing fossil fuelled heating systems, by 2035, with low
26 September 2020
carbon energy technology also. This creates a requirement for low carbon heating systems now. The Committee for Climate Change has put numbers behind this; according to its report, approximately 19 million households could adopt this new technology by 2050, with current predictions of approximately one million heat pumps installed by 2030, resulting in the UK meeting its net zero target by 2050. Professor Martin Freer from the University of Birmingham is also working with the CBI and the Heat Commission and points out: “The level of coordination to deliver this needs to reach from the regional to national, with appropriate resource being devolved to the local level to be successful. The level of complexity and the urgency of change means the transition cannot be left to chance and a national delivery body is essential.”
Another issue in the UK is that there is a lack of trained installers to meet these new future demands. Of course, the MCS Accreditation scheme (micro-generation certification) goes some way to help consumers find qualified
installers, as well as providing a resource to
research suitable sustainable energy products. One way Panasonic is addressing this issue, is by creating CIBSE-accredited CPDs, and a new virtual training programme for air-to-water heat pump installation. This new, in-depth course is split in to two parts, and is designed to enhance installers skills and knowledge of heat pump technology.
A further challenge to meet the net zero targets is to encourage consumers to purchase. The good news is that the UK Government has announced plans to extend the existing Domestic RHI scheme to the end of March 2022, with a new scheme set for 1st April 2022 called the Clean Heat Grant. Further grants have been announced and are also currently being discussed, such as the Green Homes Grant to help with increased insulation of domestic properties to improve energy efficiency (full details yet to be confirmed).
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