Ministers have set out plans to roll out 600,000 heat pumps, a low-carbon alternative to gas boilers, per year by 2028, and develop hydrogen supplies, which are also being touted as an option for cutting climate emissions from home heating systems currently run on natural gas.
But a report from Imperial College London’s Energy Futures Lab said it was likely that using hydrogen as an energy source in the gas grid would only be workable from the early to mid-2030s, at the earliest.
With tough climate goals to cut emissions within the decade, the research calls for a focus on making UK homes more efficient, electrifying domestic heating through heat pumps, and deploying heat networks in the next 10 years.
The report was commissioned by the MCS Charitable Foundation, which aims to drive the adoption of renewable energy and low-carbon technology.
According to the report, UK homes are very draughty and leak heat, and whatever technology is used to cut carbon...