Government must act on its new Energy Bill promises before winter of astronomical bills, says an energy expert from the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA).
Following the Queen’s speech delivered this week, energy trade association the EUA declared the time has come for the government to deliver on the many promises made by ministers around the hydrogen economy.
Mike Foster, CEO of EUA, said: “We welcome an Energy Bill designed to promote Carbon Capture and Storage and help deliver large scale hydrogen heating trials. This puts consumers at the heart of decarbonising homes in the UK, giving people the choice between the relevant technologies – heat pumps, heat networks and hydrogen gas boilers. The latter will involve no additional upfront costs to the consumer and minimal levels of disruption and creates a secure energy supply free from the blood-stained hands of President Putin.
“We need to hear details of the business model that will deliver UK domestic production of this zero-carbon wonder-fuel, and practical action to make sure every home that wants cheap, zero carbon gas for their boilers, cookers and fires gets it.
“We need to urgently shift away from fossil fuel gas to hydrogen, using the world-class gas networks already underground to supply our homes and businesses. Now is not the time to consider re-wiring Britain; ripping out boilers to be replaced with £10 grand a time heat pumps would be a folly when clean gas is just around the corner.
“From our recent research of 2,000 UK consumers, the majority of Brits agree. Over three quarters (77.7%) of respondents saying they would support the UK generating and distributing alternative, low-carbon gas through the existing grid to replace the imports of natural gas from countries such as Qatar and Russia. An overwhelming 82% also believed the government should prioritise affordability in the development of renewable technologies for heating homes in the UK. There is a clear message that costly alternatives like heat pumps will not be favoured by households in this cost-of-living crisis.
“Meanwhile, let’s also hear what the government plan to do to keep bills down this winter. Massive investment in economically-viable energy efficiency schemes would be an entirely sensible step while the Energy Bill progresses through Parliament, creating the hydrogen future the Prime Minister and others have spoken about.”