Posts

Showing posts from August, 2020

Home Economics

  The subject of this post is the heating and insulation of homes in the UK, with particular regard to the capital cost of reducing carbon emissions. The costs estimated for homes will be compared with those of other ways of achieving carbon reduction. While the calculations which appear below are based as far as possible on realistic figures, they should be regarded as for illustration only. UK Government policies on domestic energy and retrofit A policy paper on the 2020 UK Budget stated that “The heating of our homes will need to be virtually zero carbon by 2050, replacing natural gas and other fossil fuels with low carbon alternatives – likely to be primarily a mix of green gas, heat pumps and heat networks” (Treasury, 2020). As part of an economic statement issued in July, Chancellor Rishi Sunak outlined plans for green home upgrades. Reporting on the details of the plan, Naomi Schraer wrote that vouchers “worth up to £5,000 will be issued to homeowners in England to make