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industry & government news

BAN ON NEW GAS BOILERS PUSHED

BACK BY FIVE YEARS TO 2040 BAXI

UK HOUSEHOLDS WILL HAVE MORE TIME FOR
NEW HYDROGEN BOILERS TO FALL IN PRICE

BRITONS WILL BE allowed up to five £14,000 or £11,000 respectively. provoked anger after admitting smart
more years before a ban on sales of Other options include solar meters will become redundant if
all new gas boilers comes into force, photovoltaic panels or solar water Britain ditches gas boilers in an effort
reports The Daily Mail. heating, which both come in at about to go green. He said new smart meters
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is £5,000 for a full fitting. A hydrogen- that work on hydrogen boilers - a
looking at delaying the ban by five ready boiler is intended to be a like-for- possible future greener alternative to
years to 2040, in a move which would like swap for an existing gas boiler, but conventional gas boilers - would have
give millions of UK households more the cost is unknown, with estimates to be installed.
time for new hydrogen boilers and ranging from £1,500 to £5,000. The 46-year-old told MPs on the
heat pumps to fall in price, and for Ministers had considered issuing science and technology committee:
businesses to pump more money into millions of households with so-called “We are developing prototype smart
shifting people over gradually. ‘green cheques’ worth hundreds of meters that can be installed to be
The public is set to be incentivised to pounds to compensate them for making adapted to hydrogen.”
buy an eco-friendly heat pump next time their homes more eco-friendly and offset He said current trials looking into the
their boiler breaks down - but the delay the cost of higher gas bills - but now only safety and viability of hydrogen boilers
to introducing the ban means working the poorest people in society are set to will determine whether all homes in
boilers could have to be taken out before get grants to cover the cost of swapping. Britain with gas boilers can be switched
2050, or the UK could fail to hit its net Allegra Stratton, Mr Johnson’s over. But Mr Kwarteng accepted this
zero carbon emission targets. COP26 spokeswoman, promised that would mean the end for current smart
It comes amid a mounting backlash the details will be published before meters, which measure the flow of gas,
over the spiralling cost of Johnson’s November’s meeting. She said the because hydrogen and methane are
so-called green revolution, with Prime Minister believed that “if we different chemicals.
government insiders fearful that the are going to transition to net zero it If deemed safe and effective,
proposals could add another £400 needs to be in a way the British public hydrogen boilers could replace gas
billion on top of the enormous sums understand and are comfortable with”. boilers to help the UK meet its target of
accrued during the Covid pandemic. A Treasury spokesman said that No10 decarbonising home heating by 2050.
Hydrogen boilers are one of the possible and No11 were “on the same page” on But this would make the multi-billion
replacements for gas boilers, with others both the triple lock and the need for an pound, much-delayed rollout of smart
including ground source or air source effective, affordable net zero strategy. meters largely redundant because they
heat pumps, but these cost upwards of Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng cannot measure the flow of hydrogen.

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News.indd 4 11/08/2021 09:36