PHAM NEWS | OCTOBER 2026 22 Gas & OilBoilers


Five lessons from fi ve- year project


It’s been fi ve years since residents in the village of Kehelland in Cornwall switched their kerosene oil boilers to the renewable liquid fuel of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). Malcolm Farrow from OFTEC highlights some of the lessons that can be learned from the decarbonisation trial.


F


ive years ago, the village of Kehelland in Cornwall took part in a landmark demonstration


project. Dozens of homes and village buildings using kerosene were switched to the renewable liquid fuel Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), proving that decarbonising the off - grid sector does not have to be disruptive or costly. During this time the project


has delivered signifi cant carbon savings, genuine community support, and a fully evidenced solution for the UK’s hardest to treat homes. In contrast, progress on the government’s policy plans for these properties has been remarkably slow. So, as we celebrate fi ve years, here are fi ve things the new Burnham government can learn from Kehelland.


1. Being pragmatic Every property which took part in the Kehelland project shared the same problem: switching to an air source heat pump, the government’s current preferred approach, was not realistic. The buildings are older, harder to adapt and require substantial cost and disruption to install a heat pump. Even with the government’s recently increased Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant of £9,000 for oil and LPG heated homes, the cost gap is signifi cant, with the estimated average cost to make the switch nearly £17,000. That’s a fi nancial challenge most households simply can’t overcome. As a result, these properties would remain on kerosene indefi nitely. HVO instead off ered a


pragmatic alternative. The switch from kerosene was quick and straightforward,


Malcolm Farrow Director of marketing and external affairs at OFTEC


immediately delivering an 88% reduction in carbon emissions. For the demonstration project, the buildings were switched to 100% HVO to prove the technology works. The fuel was used in the existing heating system following a minor modifi cation to the boiler. For a wider rollout, the


The collaboration has produced a fully proven blueprint, ready to roll out nationally the moment the government


provides the policy support


industry has recommended starting with a 20% blend as part of a phased transition. This would also mean it would be an immediate drop-in replacement, with no boiler tweaks required. The existing infrastructure of manufacturers, fuel distributors and technicians makes this a ready-to-go solution. The demonstration project was a complete success and this is the type of pragmatism we want to see the government incorporate into its own heat strategy.


2. Not just for homes When the government talks about decarbonisation, naturally the focus is on homes. However, when you visit Kehelland you see that the reality of rural villages is very diff erent. The village hall, church and school are central to the community and they all rely on kerosene, facing the same issues with switching to a heat pump. All of these buildings joined the HVO demonstration project. What became apparent was


that there were numerous benefi ts to HVO, beyond the removal of upfront cost and disruption if they switched to a heat pump. The church and village hall in particular needed heating which could be switched on to provide instant heat quickly over a short period. Boilers are perfectly suited to this, in contrast to heat pumps.


One of the big challenges


with rural decarbonisation is the diversity of buildings, each requiring a unique approach to adopting a heat pump without the scalability you see in towns and cities. HVO off ers that scalability and speed of transition as it utilises the existing heat system.


3. The current landscape Decarbonisation is not a policy which operates in a vacuum. So much has changed over the past ten years since the original government plans were set out. We’ve had the pandemic, war in Ukraine, and more recently the Middle East confl ict. Households are living


through an intense cost of living crisis, and the government has very limited spending power due to rising debt. Against this backdrop, asking already stretched families to fi nd tens of thousands of pounds upfront for a heat pump conversion, even with grant support, is simply not realistic. The government is also looking for ways to reduce its overall expenditure. As we’ve discussed,


HVO removes that upfront cost barrier altogether for both households and the government at precisely the moment removing barriers to aff ordable decarbonisation should be the main priority. Whilst we have seen recent fl uctuations in the price of oil, due to the Middle East confl ict which has aff ected all energy prices as well as food prices, over the longer term oil is one of the cheapest heating fuels with a competitive market.


4. What ambition looks like The Kehelland project was delivered through innovation


and collaboration. This also wasn’t a hypothetical research project on paper. It involved fi ve years of testing in the real world, with diff erent boilers, properties and the British weather. The collaboration and fi nancial investment from fuel distributors, manufacturers, technicians and residents has produced a fully proven blueprint, ready to roll out nationally the moment the government provides the policy support. This is the ambition the


UK’s decarbonisation strategy requires. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has argued that for too long people outside the big towns and cities have been overlooked by Westminster. He wants to see local people and businesses making local decisions. It’s time the government put this into practice and listened to the people of Kehelland - and other communities like them - and let them decide how they decarbonise.


5. What happens next Alongside the demonstration project, 16,000 oil heated households, technicians and fuel distributors responded to the government’s Alternative Clean Heating Solutions consultation in support of renewable liquid fuels. This was a remarkable level of engagement. However, we’re now months


on under a new government and the response to the consultation has still not arrived. Kehelland has spent fi ve years showing what a fair, aff ordable transition to net zero can look like for rural communities. The residents and industry have done their part. It is time the government learnt the lessons and did its part. ◼ phamnews.co.uk/1026/38


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