Latest news with #EnergySecurityandNetZero
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Planning change to make installing heat pump easier for millions
A key planning restriction that heat pumps need to be one meter from a neighbour's property has been lifted as the government seeks to accelerate the take up of the low-carbon technology. The change, which is part of the government's Warm Homes Plan to lower household bills and cut planet warming emissions, means it could be easier for millions of homes in England to have a heat pump installed. But consumer groups warn that the changes will not help those in rented or leasehold properties and the biggest barrier to installing a heat pump remains the high upfront costs. This is a particular problem for older housing stock where upgrades to pipework and insulation may also be required. What is a heat pump and how much do they cost? Half of homes need heat pump by 2040, government told UK homes install subsidised heat pumps at record level Most UK homes use gas boilers for their hot water and heating, but this produces up to 14% of the country's planet warming greenhouse gases. In comparison, heat pumps use electricity, so as the country moves to generating more electricity from renewable energy sources like solar and wind, they could produce far fewer emissions than boilers. But switching from a gas boiler to a heat pump is expensive and not straightforward if you live in one of England's six million terraced homes. Until Thursday, homeowners needed planning permission if they wanted to put a heat pump within one meter of their neighbour's property - because of concerns over noise. Tom Clarke, a gas engineer who recently retrained to fit heat pumps, said having to apply for planning permission had been a barrier for his customers. "When you look across London we have loads and loads of terraced houses and no matter where you site the appliance it is always going to be within one metre of the boundary," he said. It was particularly problematic for people replacing a broken gas boiler because many customers would not want to go more than a month without heating waiting for council approval, he said. This is echoed by Octopus Energy, who told parliament's Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) Committee in 2023 that this planning rule was affecting 27% of its customers. "Those who try to proceed end up waiting an additional eight to 10 weeks on average. Even if customers meet all the requirements, there is no guarantee that local councils will grant the permission, as they all have different interpretations of central planning guidelines," the company wrote in its submission. "The combined impact of all these things mean that very few of the 27% of customers who require planning have made it to install." The rule has now been dropped to accelerate the uptake of heat pumps. Previous concerns over noise are less of an issue with newer devices, though units will still be required to be below a certain volume level. The planning changes also include a relaxation of the rules for the size and number of heat pumps households can install. Households most likely to be affected are those living in terraced housing. In 2021, they accounted for 5.7 million households, or 23% of the total. Some of these will still need planning permission, for example those living in conservation areas and those installing ground source heat pumps. The change is part of the government's Warm Homes Plan which aims to give 300,000 households upgrades to improve their energy efficiency and lower bills. Although the heat pump industry welcomed the changes, many point out the main barrier for many customers is that installing heat pumps is expensive, particularly in older houses, where better insulation may also be needed. This was the case at social housing estate Sutton Dwellings in Chelsea, London, which underwent a full refurbishment of its fabric alongside a new heating network. Its landlord, Clarion Housing Group, did receive a grant from the government to install the new network but also invested its own money. Stuart Gadsden, commercial director at Kensa, the company which designed and installed the system, said this was an issue for many landlords: "A big [barrier] is funding, this obviously does cost more to install than a traditional gas boiler system. "In the social housing sector we have funding from the warm homes social housing fund, but it was oversubscribed by double. Lots of housing associations want to put low carbon heating in but there is not enough to go around." Renters have to rely on landlords being willing to make the initial upfront investment. Rob Lane, Chief Property Officer at Clarion, said the company was happy to do this at Sutton Dwellings because of the impact for residents: "We're waiting to see how the costs of running this system bear out, but our forecasts suggests that each home is going to cost on average £450 - £500 per home (each year) - considerable savings for residents." From 2030, as part of the Warm Homes plan, there will be mandatory requirements for all private landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties. But the way that Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are currently calculated means a gas boiler can sometimes have a better rating than a heat pump because it looks at energy costs and assumes gas is cheaper. Katy King, deputy director of sustainability at charity Nesta, said the government could bring down electricity costs. "The UK has some of the most expensive electricity prices in Europe. The government could take levies off electricity and put them onto gas or use general taxation. It is a tricky choice and one we do expect them to be consulting on within the year," she said. Boiler Upgrade Scheme Environmental rules reviewed for small housebuilders UK sea temperatures soar after exceptionally warm spring
The National
06-05-2025
- Business
- The National
John Swinney challenges UK Government on Acorn Project
Speaking during a major speech at Holyrood and outlining his second Programme for Government on Tuesday, the First Minister said the Scottish Government would increase the amount of Scottish funding available if the UK Government backs it. It comes after Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband announced that a decision on the Acorn project would be made at the June spending review. READ MORE: What's happening with Scotland's Acorn project? The Acorn carbon capture project is based at St Fergus near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. It works with industrial, power, hydrogen, bioenergy and waste-to-energy businesses who wish to capture CO2 emissions and send them into permanent geological storage under the North Sea. Last year, the UK Government announced the project would progress to its 'track two' stage, and in November Miliband said more information would become available 'in the coming months'. We told how last month, Miliband said he would 'consider' fast-tracking the project, adding that the move could help secure a future for workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery.
Telegraph
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Unpopular but unsackable: Starmer's Marmite Miliband problem
When Ed Miliband returned to the shadow cabinet to join Sir Keir Starmer 's team in April 2020, he was still getting over Labour's general election loss five years earlier. The man memorably labelled 'Red Ed' by the Conservatives had been out of the frame since the aftermath of the 2015 vote, relegated to the back benches to watch the rise of Jeremy Corbyn. He described his final years leading Labour – memorialised in a photograph of him eating a bacon sandwich during the 2014 local elections – as 'quite traumatic'. Now his return to the front bench, having been appointed as Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary last year, has put Starmer in an awkward position. On the one hand, the danger represented by the Doncaster North MP is far removed from the threat posed by younger thrusters such as Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner, who are considered leading contenders to replace their boss when the time comes. 'He's a man who isn't ever expected to wield the knife, because he's done the job before and was found wanting,' says John Curtice, a professor of politics at Strathclyde University and a respected pollster. 'If Starmer was to go tomorrow, we could identify some people who would be somewhat more likely to be leader than Ed Miliband.' As ever with members of the Cabinet at any one time, there are some whispers in Whitehall that Miliband would still fight again for the leadership, but even his closest allies are unsure it would be worth it. In the meantime, however, his position in the Cabinet carries a danger of a different kind. Miliband has become a Marmite figure both because of the radical policies he pursued while Labour leader and his championing of a net zero agenda that polls show is becoming increasingly unpopular with the public. Unhelpfully, he carries the baggage of an embarrassing general election loss, after a campaign in which the Conservative Party had successfully portrayed him as a dangerous socialist or in the pocket (quite literally) of the SNP. Now, he has the challenge of selling one of the most difficult policy areas, net zero, which surveys show is popular with Labour members but increasingly problematic when it comes to the general public. While voters might support the idea of reaching net-zero emissions in principle, they are loath to make the lifestyle changes Miliband has championed, including the installation of heat pumps to replace their gas boilers and inconvenient low-range electric vehicles instead of petrol and diesel cars. On March 21, Miliband insisted that the Government was 'absolutely up for the fight' over net zero. But the extent to which Starmer and Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, will remain in the trenches with him is in doubt. The most recent recommendations of the Climate Change Committee, the Government's official adviser on net zero, were that the public should cut back on the equivalent of two doner kebabs' worth of meat each week to help the country reach its target. Even Starmer, a pescatarian who has always signed up to the net-zero target, rejected the latest advice, saying that achieving the target of net-zero emissions by 2050 'does not mean telling people how to run their lives'. But there was no such attempt by Miliband to distance himself from the recommendations. The data show that the public would tend to agree with the Prime Minister. A recent poll, by Freshwater Strategy, found that 70 per cent of the public would rather the Government prioritise economic growth – a matter seen more as the business of politicians – over achieving net zero. Starmer and his top team have undergone something of a conversion when it comes to net zero, championing the kind of pragmatism advocated by Rishi Sunak in response to the cost-of-living crisis. Labour's manifesto was underpinned by what advisers saw as a new form of industrial strategy, focused on using 'clean' energy to help boost economic growth. Miliband's 'National Wealth Fund', which he personally drove into the manifesto, was one of the campaign's main announcements. Nine months on, with the growth forecast slashed in half, the Treasury is becoming increasingly sceptical about any net-zero policies that could have an impact on economic growth. 'I think reality is hitting home,' says Graham Stringer, a veteran Labour backbencher and net-zero sceptic. Once a pariah on the Labour benches, Stringer is finding himself aligned more closely than ever with parts of the Government – particularly advisers working on economic policy. 'The tight financial situation means people in the Treasury and people elsewhere are realising we cannot carry on with net zero,' he says. 'We need to have policies that reduce the cost of energy, before we have no industry left.' The same trade-off has long been an issue for Westminster's political operators. Former Tory net-zero advisers have battle scars from trying to persuade the public of the merits of the policy during the Johnson and Sunak administrations. After Sunak had created a stand-alone energy and net-zero ministry in February 2023, he appointed two of his closest allies in quick succession to run it – first Grant Shapps, then Claire Coutinho, who was special adviser to Sunak during his time as chief secretary to the Treasury. Contrast that with the role of Miliband, who has gravitas and respect within the party – but lacks the close relationship that Shapps and Coutinho had with Downing Street. When he objected to the idea of the Heathrow expansion, he was overruled. His concerns about delaying electric vehicle mandates have fallen on deaf ears in Downing Street. He has installed a heat pump in his own north London home, but few others have followed suit. When the Government needs a minister to go and defend Starmer on television, Miliband is almost never chosen. With that in mind, the Energy Secretary is one of the most obvious candidates for a demotion at the next Cabinet reshuffle. But despite the best work of some mischief-making government advisers, no one in Westminster really expects him to leave – unless he resigns on his own terms. Vasil Lazarov, a pollster at Survation, has been running a Cabinet favourability survey directed only at Labour members. The results, published for the first time in March in the house journal LabourList, found that Miliband is the most popular member of the Government, alongside Rayner. Reeves, who is relied upon the most by Starmer, came last. 'Cabinet favourability questions tend to be decided partly by favourability, but also by name recognition,' says Lazarov. 'Miliband is obviously known by most of the membership, which helps his figures.' In other words, Miliband has something that few voters ever anticipated when they watched him on the 2015 campaign trail, memorably telling Jeremy Paxman: 'Hell yes, I'm tough enough.' He has star quality. As a former leader, Miliband is much less popular than Sir Tony Blair, or even Corbyn, but he has a long association with the party that most of the Cabinet lack. 'One way you can interpret it is that, compared to the current Cabinet, he is doing quite well, but compared to past leadership he is not doing that well,' says Lazarov. Nationally, 96 per cent of people know who Miliband is, according to a YouGov survey from January, in which he was given a popularity rating of 22 per cent – one point behind Rayner, who was recognised by only 80 per cent of the public. But even at the time that Miliband was appointed last July, YouGov pointed out that 42 per cent of the public held an unfavourable view of him. So what does a prime minister do about a man like Ed Miliband? The two men seem destined to drift inexorably apart on policy, with one scrambling for economic growth, and the other wedded to his net-zero principles. Despite this, Miliband's popularity within Labour virtually guarantees his safety for now under a prime minister who will be nervous about further conflict with his party's grass roots, amid damaging rows over cuts to the welfare and foreign aid budgets. Those close to No 10 say that Starmer is fiercely loyal to his old ally, and values his advice as a former party leader. Miliband's friends likewise maintain that he would never resign to cause trouble for the Government. But Starmer has long been known for his willingness to be ruthless, eventually. If the public turns on Miliband, the next emission from No 10 may yet be the man himself.
The Independent
07-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Miliband vows to consider support for Acorn project to help Grangemouth workers
Ed Miliband has said he will 'consider' fast-tracking a carbon capture and storage project in Scotland – adding the move could help secure a future for workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery. The site, which is Scotland's only oil refinery, is due to close in the coming months, with owners at Petroineos having already sent out redundancy notices to some of the 400 workers there. But with a pipeline connecting the site there to the proposed Acorn carbon capture and storage project in Aberdeenshire, fast tracking that development could help secure a future for Grangemouth. We are determined to have a future for that Grangemouth site and for the Grangemouth community Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband This would take climate damaging CO2 emissions from Grangemouth's industrial processes, and transport them to Acorn – from where they would be sent to be stored in subsea rock formations underneath the North Sea. The UK Government has already provided funding for two similar carbon capture clusters, in Merseyside and Teesside – with Scottish First Minister John Swinney criticising ministers in London for their lack of support so far for the Acorn scheme. Asked on Friday if he would commit to fast-tracking the project to help secure 'some sort of future for Grangemouth', Mr Miliband said he would 'obviously look' at such a proposal. The UK Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary told Times Radio: 'We are determined to have a future for that Grangemouth site and for the Grangemouth community. 'That's what we're working on, actually, alongside the Scottish Government, something called Project Willow, which is a whole project which will be published later this month or early next, on looking at how we can … make the most of the potential resources at Grangemouth. 'Carbon capture and storage could be part of it, sustainable aviation fuel could be part of it.' Speaking about Grangemouth, Mr Miliband said: 'There's huge potential on that site, and we are absolutely determined, for the sake of that community, the Scottish economy, the UK economy, to to do that.' His comments came after Mr Swinney told MSPs on Thursday he was 'becoming increasingly impatient' about the lack of support given to the Acorn carbon capture and storage project by politicians at Westminster. The First Minister said he had been 'assured' by the previous Conservative government that the project would go ahead, but it 'has not been taken forward by the Labour Government'. He also recalled Labour had 'promised' to help the Grangemouth workers during last year's general election campaign, with Mr Swinney saying so far this had 'not been fulfilled'. Russell Borthwick, the chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile welcomed Mr Miliband's comments. Mr Borthwick said: 'The Secretary of State is right to consider an accelerated timeline for Acorn, which is an economic imperative for both the north-east and wider Scottish economy. 'There is no better opportunity to deliver economic growth and clean power, two stated missions of the government, than progressing the Scottish cluster.' He added: 'Carbon capture technology is game-changing technology which can create tens of thousands of jobs across the country. 'However, if we are serious about decarbonisation, then we must move much faster and more comprehensively than we have to date. 'The UK will need all five of its proposed carbon capture clusters – and possibly more – if it is to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 'Therefore, the Government should be progressing all clusters at pace, in particular the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire, which the Prime Minister has seen for himself is shovel ready.'
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Miliband refuses to say whether he personally backs Heathrow
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband has refused to say whether he personally supports the expansion of Heathrow airport. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Labour government would support the airport plans for a third runway last month, in pursuit of her economic growth agenda. As Labour leader in 2010, Miliband reversed his party's support for Heathrow expansion over concerns about the environmental impact of it. Pushed on whether he has changed his mind, Miliband said: "I am part of the government and I abide by collective responsibility." Reeves hints at support for Heathrow expansion Miliband: I won't quit over Heathrow expansion What's the plan for a third runway at Heathrow Airport? "I was part of the decision-making process and the decision is as Rachel Reeves set it out," he said, adding he was "not obfuscating" when pressed on his previous stance. Collective responsibility is the rule that the Cabinet must act as one on government decisions. Miliband later told the Today programme a final decision on Heathrow expansion is "some years off", adding the proposal will need to meet carbon budgets and local environmental standards to be approved. He also refused to state his personal position on the Rosebank oil field, another project he has previously opposed for environmental reasons. Miliband argued that he has "different responsibilities" now as a government minister than he did in opposition, when he described the development as "a colossal waste of taxpayer money" and "economic vandalism". There will be a "proper process", he said, so the decision is made in a "fair and objective" manner. Neither were resignation issues, Miliband said, adding "What I'm about is making a massive difference now - this is the fight of our time". He said he "utterly reject[s]" that there is a choice between economic growth and net zero, arguing that clean energy provides "the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century" for jobs and the planet. On energy bills he said "I fear bills will keep rising" unless there was a transition to "clean home grown power we control". Miliband was also asked about the launch of a consultation on plans to ensure all rental properties have an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C or above. He accepted adding extra insulation to rented accommodation would increase bills for landlords, who may pass that cost onto tenants in the form of higher rents. However, Miliband said the move was the "fair" thing to do and was backed by tenants' associations worried about damp, mouldy homes and high energy bills. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
