Home Boilers In UK Produce 2X CO2, 8X NOX Of All Gas Power Plants; Home Insulation Collapsed 2012-17
The millions of gas boilers in the UK’s homes produce twice as much climate-heating carbon emissions as all the nation’s gas-fired power stations combined, according to an analysis. The finding highlighted the urgent need for a strong government policy to rapidly introduce low-carbon heating such as heat pumps, the researchers said.
The data also shows that home gas boilers collectively produce eight times as much nitrogen dioxide as the power plants. NO2 is an air pollutant linked to tens of thousands of early deaths a year in the UK. Ministers have promised to publish their heat and buildings strategy before the UN Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November. The government is also contending with soaring gas prices, which have been driven up by rapid growth in post-pandemic demand around the world.
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A second analysis has found that high gas prices mean the energy bills of people living in poorly insulated homes will rise by up to £246 a year. The UK has the oldest housing stock in western Europe but the rates of home insulation installation plunged by 95% between 2012 and 2019. A recent government energy efficiency scheme collapsed after six months, with the National Audit Office blaming ministers for the “botched” policy.
Neil Jones, at the climate charity Possible, which produced the analysis of gas boilers with the social enterprise Scene, said: “Amid a frightening gas price crisis, and a decade of opportunity wasted by the government to insulate our homes, supporting households to begin switching to clean heat pumps has come suddenly into focus.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/29/uks-home-gas-boilers-emit-twice-as-much-co2-as-all-power-stations-study
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