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< Energy Institute to give chartered status to energy managers | Renewable Energy Association outlines actions needed to hit 2020 targets >
Government's renewable heat subsidy 'could raise carbon emissions', says AECB
A planned government subsidy for heat generated from renewable sources is badly designed and could, in some cases, encourage higher carbon dioxide emissions.
That was the warning from "green" building organisation AECB, when it responded to a government consultation on the planned subsidy, known as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
A "green"
AECB complained that:
O The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) suggested it would subsidise electrically powered systems such as air source heat pumps. But is said these are often associated with higher carbon dioxide emissions than an A-rated gas boiler, especially when used with an existing radiator system.
O Decc describes as "renewable" heat sources that rely on mains electricity, which is part fossil-fuelled, alongside those "which are genuinely renewable".
O Paying people for heat (ie energy) used - however inefficiently - rather than for energy saved or renewable energy generated or harvested - is illogical, and reduces the incentive to be efficient and thereby save carbon.
O Decc proposes to subsidise heat generation in biomass boilers, which AECB described as "significantly more polluting, and therefore more dangerous to public health, than the fossil fuel systems they aim to replace. It is possible to use biomass as cleanly as fossil fuel, but much dirtier biomass boilers are permitted under these proposals."
AECB said the scheme's problems would be made worse because there was no precondition for buildings or equipment to be made energy efficient before the subsidy is claimed.
It also complained that the subsidy would be in return for energy used rather than equipment installed, so the beneficiaries would be those who had access to capital.
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