So what's the alternative?

This is rather the elephant in the room for the whole "net zero" shindig. A pure electric boiler is suicidally expensive. And in fact electric boilers are heavily penalised in EPC ratings. So, heat pumps are the only way forward. Good luck telling all home owners that they need to spend £20k+ on an air or ground source heat pump to replace their boiler. It seems that the bright idea amongst some policy makers to "convince" people is to ban all other options. Like the electric car decision. And air source heat pumps are not the efficient at colder temperatures (like a good UK winter). And without tons of space the only way to go ground source is a borehole and that's the most expensive way.  

Some local friends have a ground source heat pump plus about 12KW of solar panels. They did all the work as they refurbished a house, so it needed new heating anyway. Plus they havthe land for the pipes and the outbuildings roofs  for the solar.  

We've got the space for a ground source heat pump if we wanted / had to go that route. I've also been idly lookig at te internet for solar + a Tesla Powerwall. But by heck, all that stuff adds up and you're soon easily spending £20k+. 

This could be the point at which the electorate go "fuck this green shit". 


And when this becomes mainstream, it'll be political dynamite. 

Talking to Northern Gas Networks, they are running trials in the Leeds area where they are blending hydrogen with natural gas as a way of reducing emissions. Going forward the major boiler manufacturers are developing hydrogen fuelled boilers. Other options include bio fuelled oil boilers and heat interface units in high density housing.

The comments section of that article is pleasingly on point.

I am just going to ignore all this bollocks and hope it goes away.

Let's see how long this narrative continues when the global financial apocalypse is unleashed.

I'd love to try and heat my house with air source heat pump. Ground source is possible, but at what cost? I'll be buying a new oil boiler just before anything like this goes ahead. Either that or burn lots of wood/smokeless.

As with all these things, the issue is going to be cost and how viable those costs are to the everyman on the street. I'm sure there are a lot of upper middle class homeowners who could stomach the cost but for most people it's just too much. Same with electric cars, those who typically buy ICE powered superminis dont normally have the funds to go electric at £30k+. Hence the move to all electric vehicles is not going to happen by 2030 even with the ban coming in. The only way it'll happen is if the price of petrol starts going up towards the £2/ltr mark or more.

We've got solar panels for our electricity and I recently looked at battery storage so I'd be able to use the power generated during the day in the evening but with my current electric bill being less than £30/month it would take almost 20 years before I get any payback.

The problem with so much of this is it doesn’t add up. A friend of mine owns the local golf club. He installed a wood pellet boiler that, thanks to subsidy, will benefit him to the tune of £250k over the next 20 years. The wood pellets are imported from North America. I’d hazard this is more carbon intensive than a gas boiler but he doesn’t care as he makes a fortune out of it and it pretty much paid to have his heating on in summer.
Carbon taxes are too often a tax on the poor to pay the rich.

Well from what I've read, in this brave new world, biofuel will be classed as carbon neutral so those with oil boilers will be ok.

Are any of these proposed changes targeted at anywhere other than homeowners? I often wonder just how many small changes across business and other organisations - councils, schools, public services - could add up to a bigger improvement relatively easily. Examples I often see schools or office buildings at night with just about every light on, shops whose heating constantly battles the cold air pouring out of open fridges or, in the summer, whose air conditioning fights against the warm air pouring in through open doors. Is housing the biggest contributor or is industry, commerce and other sectors a bigger issue? It feels like the easiest to legislate against is you and I.

Youd be amazed how many older school buildings have a heating system that has two settings: sauna and ice room. They tend also to have a very basic timer system too with system at full blast October to March and decommissioned April to September. My wife's school is a case in point. Theres been numerous occasions where they have to open all the windows in October or March to let some of the heat out whilst also occasionally having to let the kids wear their coats in class in April.

Landlords are going to have to stump up some big cash in the next few years. A final proposal is due out later this year, but rumour is that all residential rental properties are going to have be EPC rated C or better. That's going to be expensive for anything built before cavity walls became a thing. 

^
Time to start looking for new accommodation, or is Haigh's rent still well below market rates?