A consultation has been launched by the Welsh government, to make sure that by 2025 all new homes can be heated by means of clean energy sources from 2025 onwards. Replacing reliance on fossil fuels by the Welsh government is a key step in making a lower carbon footprint. The Welsh government have also talked about introducing other energy efficient methods to lower the carbon impact, they are looking at the introduction of triple glazing, new fabrics and materials for walls, roofs and floors.
Improved energy efficiency from 2020 will lead to around a 37% reduction in CO2 from new dwellings.
Gas Goes Green:
Only last week we spoke about the exciting Gas Goes Green programme, which is helping the gas industries to transition to Net Zero. Read this article.
New Homes – Air Quality?
According to research, new homes are becoming so air tight that it is impacting on internal air quality – read more. To combat this, the Welsh government are taking a proactive stance here and are paying specific attention to ensuring sufficient fresh air supply is in place. Furthermore they are also looking at how air can also be removed from these spaces (opening of windows for example) without potentially compromising too much on energy efficiency.
Outside Wales:
Whilst Wales is focusing on lower carbon, there are some other interesting plans afoot across other areas. The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan has only recently announced a £3.6m programme to support the retrofit of public sector-managed homes in the capital, which will incorporate lower-carbon heating, insulting and alternative energy solutions. He has pledged that London will be carbon-neutral by 2030.
Across the UK in general, £70m has been assigned to new hydrogen plants and £20m to renewable heat projects. This is part of a funding commitment designed to support the shift away from carbon-intensive heating in homes. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said it is estimated that 250,000 people could have homes powered by local renewable energy through the prospective projects.