Scotland must kick its addiction to conventional gas-fired boilers

Only 3% of heat in Scotland comes from renewable sources against a target of 11%, which the country needs to achieve in just under 5.5 years, according to Stephanie Clark, Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables.

Clark believes that Scotland is ‘addicted’ to gas-boilers and needs to embrace renewable heat sources if it stands a chance of hitting its 2020 targets. She stated that the country must make a “major change of mind-set was needed to hit the target.”

She continued:

“More than half of the energy consumed in Scotland is in the form of heat. As a society, we take warm homes and workplaces and constant hot water for granted, but the time is now right for us to re-think our relationship with heat and the way it is generated, transported and used.

“We have a chance of reaching what is a very ambitious 2020 target, but we have to act now. If we can do it,

consumers and businesses will be insulated from the price fluctuations and uncertainty of supply associated with gas. We can also create hundreds of jobs and help thousands of families out of fuel poverty by using more sustainable forms of warmth like wood, solar and heat pumps.”

These points form part of the agenda at the Low Carbon Heat Conference on 28th April in Perth. One of the opening questions at the event will be ‘Is Scotland serious about Heat?’.

Clark stated:

"Most of our homes, businesses and public buildings are warmed by conventional gas boilers, and we must kick that addiction. District heating, for example, is a great way for hundreds of homes to share one heat source, but we have yet to see a consensus on its importance in Scotland.”

The conference speakers include experts in the field of renewable heat, including biomass, CHP and heat pumps.

Find out more details about the conference here.

#renewables #uknews #news