Government’s green heating plans need to include renewable liquid fuels

The government is being urged to set out a clear road map for decarbonising rural households in its upcoming Warm Homes Plan, as a new survey of off-gas grid consumers reveals increasing concerns over the cost of transitioning to low carbon heating.

When we talk about switching properties off the gas grid to low carbon heating technologies, the focus is often on homes. However, there are an estimated 268,000 what we call ‘non-domestic’ buildings in England alone which will also be affected. These aren’t just businesses, but include local community buildings from village halls, churches, shops and pubs.

OFTEC and UKIFDA have been analysing the last information dump and the findings show that many rural oil heated homes will need an alternative due to the cost and disruption of installation, and high running costs.

We believe renewable liquid fuels, such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), must be part of the solution. Households should have a choice over whether they switch to a heat pump or HVO so they can adopt the best solution for their home and circumstances. If you want the choice of switching to a renewable liquid fuel, here are five key facts you should know to help spread the message.

Hundreds of rural households and heating technicians have written to their local MP calling on the Labour government to keep a commitment made to explore the use of renewable liquid fuels for home heating as an alternative to kerosene.

It’s been a successful two years for the Future Ready Fuel campaign and we’ve made significant progress in our ambition to secure a renewable liquid fuel solution for oil heated homes.