The Heating and Hotwater Industry Council, (HHIC) has commended a new report from Policy Exchange which recommends the creation of a boiler scrappage scheme to improve air quality in the UK.
The report, Up in the Air: Part 2, proposes a comprehensive package of measures to reduce emissions and improve air quality in London
It has come up with a ten point plan to clean up London’s air and the final one is the need to tackle emissions from gas boilers.
The report suggests: “Gas combustion is the second largest source of NOx emission after road transport. Creating a boiler cashback scheme is a cost effective way to drive the replacement of old polluting boilers”.
Stewart Clements, director of HHIC, said “Gas combustion from boilers and cookers has until now, rarely been considered when discussing air quality, despite its significance.
“We know that there are approximately nine million inefficient boilers in UK homes, contributing to both carbon emissions and poor air quality. Not only that, they are more expensive to run than their modern day counterparts.
“Modern boilers achieve efficiencies of around 90%, compared to efficiencies of 70%. They also perform significantly better in terms of emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and local air pollutants such as NOx.”
Stewart added: “The delivery of boiler scrappage schemes is tried, tested and successful. This new report recognises this and advocates the creation of a robust boiler scrappage scheme. It calls for grants to be offered to homes and businesses to upgrade their heating systems. I hope this new report will assist in kick starting a proper and full debate on air pollution and its effects.”