Over 1,000 oil heated households have now sent a letter to the new Burnham government in just a few weeks, asking the Prime Minister to keep his commitment to listen to rural villages.
The letters call on the government to ensure rural homes have a say in how their homes will be heated in the future by publishing the findings from the Alternative Clean Heating Solutions consultation. Around 16,000 oil heated homes submitted a response but, eight months later, they have yet to have an answer.
The submissions to the consultation called for the government to support the use of renewable liquid fuels as a low carbon solution for homes on oil heating.
Paul Rose, CEO of OFTEC, and Ken Cronin, CEO of UKIFDA, said:
“It's been incredible to see how quickly people have engaged and written to the new Burnham government, and it really shows the strength of feeling. More than 1,000 letters in a few weeks tells the government that rural households haven’t forgotten about the consultation, particularly with the Prime Minister's commitment to listen to rural towns and villages.
“Oil heated households want to do the right thing and reduce their carbon emissions, but they need practical solutions that work in their home. The government asked what rural households wanted to see happen in the consultation and there was significant support for renewable liquid fuels.
"We now need to see the government listening to these responses and put in place policy support for renewable liquid fuels alongside heat pumps, so consumers have a real choice about the heating solution for their home."
Currently, the government expect most homes on oil heating to switch to a heat pump. However, the consultation put the average cost of doing so at around £16,900. Whilst the government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme now offers oil heated homes a £9,000 grant, the concern is many would still face a significant shortfall.
That's because oil heated homes tend to be older and poorly insulated. As a result, they often require disruptive and costly retrofit work for the technology to operate effectively. Instead, oil heated homes could switch to a renewable liquid fuel such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). The fuel can be blended with kerosene and used straight away in an existing boiler and tank without any disruption.
Trials took place in 150 homes over five years and showed the fuel works as an ideal replacement. If an initial 20% blend was rolled out across the UK’s 1.7 million oil heated homes, it would deliver the same carbon saving as fitting nearly 350,000 heat pumps.
In response, the Future Ready Fuel campaign, supported by OFTEC, which represents manufacturers and training providers and runs a registration scheme for non-gas heating technicians, and UKIFDA, which represents fuel distributors, has been urging oil heated households to write to the new government to demand a response to the consultation.
Households can write to the government in a few minutes at www.futurereadyfuel.info.
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