Water heating Electric role in low carbon future Steve Addis


The market for all-electric heating and hot water solutions is set for steady growth as the push towards net zero carbon gathers pace, according to Steve Addis, Lochinvar product manager


according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).


This represented a 2% increase compared with the year before and the National Grid confirmed it was the cleanest year on record for electricity production. As a result, the carbon factor of grid electricity has fallen by more than half from 495grams in 2014 to just 200g of CO2 for each kWh of electricity generated. BEIS now predicts it will be just 66grams by 2035 as more and more renewable sources come on stream.


Amicus Heat Pump & C T Cavalier Water Heater Carbon factors


he building services industry will increasingly be challenged to deliver more solutions that produce low or no on-site carbon emissions as part of the strategy to deliver a net zero carbon economy by 2050. There is some confusion among politicians and the general public about how the country can achieve carbon neutrality.


Many people assume this will require a wholesale switch to renewables, but in fact non-renewable, low carbon technologies are likely to be pivotal on both economic and practical grounds.


Surprisingly to many, fully electric systems are poised to play an important part because the UK is transforming the way it produces electricity, making it far more appropriate as a primary energy source for heating and hot water.


Low carbon generation accounted for more than 51% of the electricity supplied in the UK in 2019,


This changes everything when it comes to using electric technologies in buildings. The government’s ongoing review of Part L of the Building Regulations includes a proposal to remove the domestic Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard used to assess the overall performance of a building in favour of a calculation that takes into account these new grid carbon factors. This has not proved popular with many engineers because they see it as an attempt to relax energy efficiency standards. However, this should not be an ‘either or situation’ – reduced carbon factors in electricity should not be seen as an alternative to energy efficiency. If we are serious about achieving net zero by 2050, the government should be intent on taking advantage of both. At the same time, more building clients are looking for zero ‘on site’ emissions so they can demonstrate how they are


contributing to a lower carbon future by minimising their own direct impact. There is a strong trend, particularly in new build projects, towards using all electric systems and this is only likely to grow. A recent report from the global financial research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) claimed that the harnessing of lower carbon grid electricity was the best way to transform how we power our transport and heat our buildings. Direct changes would also see massive growth of electric heating systems in buildings, while indirect changes would include electrolysis using renewable electricity being used to produce hydrogen that can also be used to heat buildings.


BNEF’s head of global policy analysis Victoria Cuming said that electrification “could make a huge contribution to the achievement of governments’ emission-reduction targets by exploiting the low- carbon transition already underway in the power generation sector”.


“Governments should introduce incentives or requirements to cut emissions from building heat, support demonstration projects for electrification, and iron out barriers to the production of green hydrogen. They should also consider how to engage energy consumers and civil society as they have a crucial role to play in enabling electrification of these new sectors.”


At Lochinvar, we see tremendous potential in the all-electric approach – especially in the new build sector where buildings can be designed and adapted to ensure a zero on-site impact along with


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