Jo Alsop

Government vows to create 400,000 jobs in clean energy sector Ed Miliband says the UK's clean energy sector needs developing in order to

Big workforce news!

DESNZ has launched its Clean Energy Jobs Plan, creating the Office for Clean Energy Jobs & targeting 8.5-10k heating engineers by 2030

£5m more for heat pump training too, but the curriculum needs updating to match modern practice

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cheaper power key to reach UK’s climate targets | Latest Market News The UK's climate plan credibility has improved slightly but no progress has been made to make electricity cheaper, which is key to hit the country's emissions targets, independent advisory body Climat...

The UK is off track cutting electricity prices says @theCCCuk

Heat pump rollout is only slightly off track, but cutting electricity remains significantly off track.

We need to:
• Shift levies off electricity
• Align price signals with net zero
www.argusmedia.com/en/news-and-...

Great talks #installershow from @miattafahnbulleh.bsky.social on policy levers for Gov to accelerate heat pump adoption, stable policy environment and culture wars that have fractured net zero consensus. Electrification only way to lower bills.

Still small numbers, but heat pumps in new builds gradually increasing in anticipation of Future Homes Standard.

21% of new build homes had a heat pump in Jan 25

Strong policy signals do get supply chains motoring for some, others may choose to lobby

www.projectambient.org/data

Kemi Badenoch: Net zero by 2050 "is fantasy politics. Built on nothing. Promising the earth. And costing it too." | Conservative Home We don’t just exist to win elections.We have to know what we are winning for and what we are going to do after we win.

Heat pumps are a political football, again

CCC state that 52% homes need a heat pump by 2040, which is 14M homes, not 17M

Installations won't level out at 50k pa & take 340 yrs to replace gas boilers

But uptake hampered by heat pump & hydrogen misinformation

conservativehome.com/2025/03/18/k...

‘My house had the perfect energy rating – until I got a heat pump’ Homeowner’s prized 100pc score is slashed by ‘tick-box’ assessment

Despite the headline, it isn't the heat pump that dropped the property's EPC rating, rather changes in SAP

However heat pumps don't improve your EPC. Plans to overhaul with new Home Energy Model framework from 2026 will rank heat pumps more favourably
www.telegraph.co.uk/money/net-ze...

Climate Change Committee: Half of homes need heat pump by 2040 The UK's greenhouse gas emissions should fall to 13% of 1990 levels by 2040, government advisors say.

Big day as Climate Change Committee release 7th Carbon Budget. By 2040, half of UK homes will need to be heated a heat pump, compared to ~1% in 2023. Gov role is to make the low carbon option the cheaper option, eg lowering electricity costs. Hydrogen has no role.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Heat pumps produce a “consistent pattern of heat” keeping a house ticking over during the day, unlike gas boilers @joalsop.bsky.social tells @alexisconran.bsky.social presenter of a new @channel5tv.bsky.social show on the subject.

Government to ditch 2035 gas boiler ban despite heat pump drive Ministers plan to scrap a rule that would stop people replacing their existing boilers after 2035

Not sure what the story is here. Rishi Sunak already ditched the *proposal* (i.e. not at all set in stone) contained in the 2021 Heat and Buildings Strategy to stop the sale of new gas boilers from 2035.

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Government hires @nestauk.bsky.social BIT to help nudge consumers towards heat pumps and counter misinformation. Ruling out hydrogen for heating would be a big help also.

amp.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘If 1.5m Germans have them there must be something in it’: how balcony solar is taking off Balcony solar panels can save 30% on a typical household’s electricity bill and, with vertical surface area in cities larger than roof space, the appeal is clear

Vertical solar has all kinds of potential, like balcony solar. Highly accessible for blocks of flats where individual green measures are tricky!

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Column chart showing annual gas and electricity levies as a share of net income for Ofgem consumer archetypes. Shares vary by main fuel type: gas, electricity, electricity/other, and other. Levies are highest as a share of income for lower-income archetypes. Overall they range between 0.5 and 1.5%.

OK, time for a proper thread on levies on energy bills, based on our report out today.

Topline: the levies are unfair, and a huge barrier to reaching net zero. To reform them, we should rebalance levies on to gas while targeting support to low income households.

www.nesta.org.uk/report/cheap...

I thought the discussion around hydrogen for heating was pretty much over.

But I keep seeing people postulate that hydrogen for heating will play a role in the future.

I highly doubt that. Why? Because the 54 independent studies I reviewed suggest otherwise.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Factcheck: 18 misleading myths about heat pumps - Carbon Brief Heat pumps are an alternative to gas boilers and wood stoves for indoor heating. They...

It did not take long until the naysayers on heat pumps also arrived on Bluesky.

To all of the "experts" commenting in my feed that heat pumps don't work: STUDY THE SCIENCE!

I have - here's my summary: www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18...

The November Radiator Report Friends, you may recall that back at the start of October, I replaced most of the radiators in my house. To try to quantify the effect of this change I have compared my records of heat pump perform…

protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2024/12/03/t...

In October I changed most of the radiators in the house.

Has this affected heat pump performance? Yes!

In this article I compare heat pump performance in November with Nov 2023. The weather was similar, but the COP improved by 17%.

A mix of expanding renewable sources of generation coupled with energy storage, including domestic level micro storage (EV and home batteries), demand side reduction and international interconnectivity, exporting and importing surpluses.

New green energy bill warning amid threat of £120 rise Energy bills are expected to rise in the short term to meet the Government's 2030 net zero target

Great piece in @inews.co.uk on the challneges Gov faces to keep to the renewable electricity generation path that reduces energy bills while paying for the technology to deliver it. Despite the headline, it is achievable.

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Stacked bar chart comparing the annual electricity and gas bills of a typical household (£1,717 total). Electricity costs £884, made up of £319 wholesale costs, £212 network costs, £141 policy costs, £122 operating costs, £48 other costs, and £42 VAT. Gas costs £833, made up of £416 wholesale costs, £158 network costs, £46 policy costs, £125 operating costs, £48 other costs, and £40 VAT.

Energy bills are going to rise again in January.
But what are we actually paying for in an energy bill? My colleague @martinakavan.bsky.social has written this lovely explainer, with some neat charts

www.nesta.org.uk/report/whats...

Energy price cap rises again - with cost of bills expected to stay high for months Costlier bills are the key reason inflation has risen sharply.

Sorry to say that the energy price is going up by 1.2%, to £1,738 for the avg home from Jan

Unpleasant news that exemplifies the need to ramp up renewable electricity gen, accelerate heat pump adoption & improve boiler efficiency to ensure a long term downward trend.

news.sky.com/story/energy...

3/3
>Class I-III controls will be removed from the market, from mid-2026
>All boiler manufacturers must use open protocols for heating controls, so that third party controls can work with their boilers on the highest efficiency setting, from mid-2026

YouTube video by The Heating Hub Boiler Tweaks To Tackle The Cost Of Living Crisis. AKA Lower the flow temperature on a combi boiler

2/3
>Boilers must modulate to 15% of their kW output to stop oversizing/cycling (10% for larger boilers) from mid-2028
>Boilers must be set to default of 60degC flow temp for heating out of the box (you can do this yourself now and save money - see my video!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T022...

Some big news in boilers too! Gov have acknowledged that condensing boilers do not perform to their advertised efficiencies and are mandating higher installation standards as follows:
1/3
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Help to save households money and deliver cleaner heat to homes Up to 300,000 homes to benefit from upgrades next year, as government continues rollout of the Warm Homes Plan.

A good news day for the journey to cleaner, greener, cheaper homes for all

>>Planning permission not required to site a heat hump within 1m of boundary
>£180M added to £1.95B boiler upgrade scheme to support 284k heat pump installs
>CHMM coming into effect 1 Apr 2025

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Heat pump scheme for Edwardian social housing aims to bust low-carbon myths The Sutton Dwellings estate in London may offer councils a ‘blueprint’ for ground source heating

Can I have a heat pump if I live in a flat? Sometimes individual heat pumps will work if the external unit can fit on the balcony, but it's not ideal. So what happens in high density urban areas? In this case, a communal ground source heat pump serving the block.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

😍

Excited to hear more!

UK weather: Met Office issues woolly jumpers alert as Arctic blast arrives Unusually mild spell to end with subzero temperatures likely overnight in much of northern England and Scotland

Cold weather across large parts of the country and @metoffice.bsky.social issue woolly jumper warning. If you're on a tight budget you can heat a couple of rooms using the gas boiler and turning off the other radiators. Keep doors closed on the heated rooms.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

Labour to cut ‘boiler tax’ after industry backlash Ed Miliband walks the lines between watering down unpopular net zero policies and hitting climate targets

Don't know why I'm always surprised that lobbying works. I guess Im an optimist who believes right will triumph! I remain positive, but rumours that Clean Heat Market Mechanism will be less toothy because of a coordinated campaign to recast it as a boiler tax suck
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

thanks :)

Clean energy auctions and tenders are a major route to market for new projects in many parts of the world.

Over the past decade auctions have become the most common way for governments to support new utility-scale clean energy capacity.