The Heat and Building Strategy is due to be published next month to set out how the Government plans to address potential issues for homeowners such as electricity being significantly more expensive than gas. That “price distortion” is seen as a barrier to helping promote low-carbon solutions, such as hydrogen boilers and heat pumps in homes. The Committee on Climate Change has warned the Government that consumers could end up paying £100 more a year.
But Chris Stark, the Chief Executive of the UK’s independent adviser on climate change, says there are a “whole host of options” available to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help Britons.
He told Express.co.uk: “In fact, there are so many options is difficult to know exactly what the Government is going to do.
“But there are some thing that really must be achieved in any circumstance.
“One of them is that, by 2050, we are going to stop burning fossil fuels to heat our homes.
“That’s a long time away – we have time to plan for it properly, but the crucial point is that if you buy a boiler today you can use it for 15 to 20 years.
“That’s the timeframe we have to think in – which is why there’s a period in the mid-2030s taking so much significance.”
Mr Stark said that the Government “will replace them with something that is a zero-carbon alternative”.
There are concerns among homeowners over the current cost of going green.
Currently, a semi-detached or mid-terrace property costs about £600 a year to heat.
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“At the moment, if you are to install a heat pump in your home it’s very expensive.
“I hope he will use the tax system to try and encourage that to come down in price.
“And I hope we see investment from the Chancellor and Kwasi Kwarteng in the infrastructure to support it.”
Mr Stark said he hopes the Government will continue its green energy push as it could lead to thousands of jobs up and down the county.
He noted: “Bring all that together and it will be really appealing to look forward to that moment in 15 years times when we make the transition.”