Neil Harrison, Business Green
Summary
Wood Heat Association chair Neil Harrison argues the end of RHI support for biomass in urban areas is misguided
The UK may be on track to exceed its renewable electricity targets by 2020, but just six per cent of our heat comes from renewable sources - less than half the required amount if we are to meet 2020 renewable heat targets. Heat decarbonisation is a central pillar of the government's Clean Growth Strategy, yet proposals laid out by BEIS to restrict 80 per cent of the UK from accessing one of the most affordable sources of renewable heat would only take us further away from achieving climate targets, without making the meaningful impact on improving air quality that the proposals seek.
A third of the UK's national carbon dioxide emissions come from space and process heating, making it a prime target to switch away from fossil fuel towards low carbon sources. There are no silver bullets and we need a number of different technologies and approaches if we are going to be able to ensure a low carbon, low cost and sustainable way of heating our homes and businesses. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme has been the major vehicle to achieving this, making the deployment of renewable heat technologies more cost effective for both domestic and non-domestic users.
However, plans for a blanket ban on RHI support available for all biomass boilers in urban areas threaten to jeopardise progress towards the UK's clean energy targets.
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