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UK ranks lowest in Europe for heat pump installations, report shows
The UK has ranked bottom for heat-pump installations among 21 European countries, as an influential committee warns key indicators for cutting emissions from buildings are “significantly off track”.
A new 438-page progress report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) on net-zero efforts has warned the UK has “lost its clear global leadership position on climate action”.
The report showed that, out of 21 European countries using heat pumps, the UK was bottom of the pile for per capita installations in 2021.
It ranked 11th for total number of installations.
In 2022, the number of UK installations rose to 72,000, with 69,000 in homes, but this was still well below the committee’s “pathway” projected figure of 130,000 for the year.
The government’s target is 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028, as part of its vow to make “the UK one of the largest markets in the world for heat pumps”.
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The report also showed that while the cost of heat pumps fell by 6.7% in 2022, the cost of system components rose by 4.9%.
Labour costs for installation rose by 0.7%, but this followed increases of 13.7% in 2020 and 17.8% in 2021.
The average cost of installing a heat pump in a home fell by 1.9% in 2022, but this followed sharp rises in 2020 (10.3%) and 2021 (19.2%).
On the issue of trained heat pump installers, the CCC said the government was “significantly off track” in reaching the numbers required.
The report also criticised ministers for not making a decision on the role hydrogen could play in the path to net zero for buildings.
“The government has not yet set a clear direction on the future technology mix for low-carbon heat,” the CCC said. “It has said that it will take a ‘strategic decision’ on the role of hydrogen for heat by 2026, but this is a long way off.”
The report also called for “radical reform” of planning policy to support net zero.
“In a range of areas, there is now a danger that the rapid deployment of infrastructure required by the net-zero transition is stymied or delayed by restrictive planning rules,” it said.
Overall, the CCC report, which also covered a range of non-housing-related areas, said the UK’s progress remained “broadly insufficient to ensure that the buildings sector reaches zero emissions by 2050”.
In a letter to prime minister Rishi Sunak, Lord Deben, the CCC’s outgoing chair, pleaded for the government to “act urgently”.
He wrote: “Our children will not forgive us if we leave them a world of withering heat and devastating storms where sea level rises and extreme temperatures force millions to move because their countries are no longer habitable. None of us can avoid our responsibility. Delay is not an option.”
Simon McWhirter, deputy chief executive of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), branded the report a “deeply troubling assessment”.
“With the UK’s planning system blocking vital progress, efficiency installations falling last year despite 30 million buildings urgently needing energy upgrades, and the UK ranking dead-last in Europe for heat pump installations, this report shows how severely off track we are from our path to a net-zero future,” he said.
In response, a government spokesperson said: “We can be proud of the UK’s record as a world leader on net zero.
“We are going far beyond other countries and delivering tangible progress whilst bringing down energy bills, with hundreds of pounds coming off bills from next month.
“The UK is cutting emissions faster than any other G7 country and attracted billions of investment into renewables, which now account for 40% of our electricity.
“In the last year alone, we have confirmed the first state backing of a nuclear project in over 30 years and invested billions to kick-start new industries like carbon capture and floating offshore wind.
“With a new department dedicated to delivering net zero and energy security, we are driving economic growth, creating jobs, bringing down energy bills and reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels.”
