The Sixth Carbon Budget, required under the Climate Change Act, provides ministers with advice on the volume of greenhouse gases the UK can emit during the period 2033-2037. The Sixth Carbon Budget report is based on an extensive programme of analysis, consultation and consideration by the Committee on Climate Change and its staff, building on the evidence published last year concerning the UK’s progress toward Net Zero carbon emissions.
Comment from Steve Richmond, Head of Marketing and Technical for REHAU Building Solutions:
“The clouds are starting to part as we near the end of 2020 for many reasons, not least because of today’s announcement relating to the sixth carbon budget from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) – particularly section two of the report, relating to buildings.
“REHAU most welcomes the specific focus on scaling up the market for heat pumps as a critical technology for decarbonising space heating, while maintaining quality. Additionally, expanding the rollout of low-carbon heat networks in heat dense areas like cities, using anchor loads such as hospitals and schools, is news to be celebrated.
“The roadmap of recommended dates demonstrate we need to move at pace. For example, all new build homes to have a heat pump or low carbon heat network and all new district heat connections to be low carbon by 2025. Heat pump sales must then be reaching 1m by 2030 with 5.5m heat pumps installed.
“We know these are viable technologies, but to see this advocated in black and white within the CCC’s official recommendations is exactly the sort of clarity we need. This follows the Government announcing its specific aim to install 600,000 heat pumps annually by 2028 last month, which was also a very encouraging sign.
“It is clear that the public and industry are behind moving towards zero carbon but there needs to be increased public awareness of how this can be achieved. One of the major challenges lies around skills, as the existing workforce may not possess all the skills necessary for operating low-carbon and low-flow temperature installations. It’s key that the Government now address these policy gaps and review what incentives may be needed to meet their green targets.
“Both sustainability and knowledge-sharing are driving forces within REHAU’s own strategy, which is why we back these initiatives whole-heartedly. Our continuing professional development (CPD) programme has been a huge focus throughout this turbulent year, and is being revamped and expanded for 2021 with renewable technologies remaining at its heart. We believe this guidance is invaluable to the educational process.
“In summary, there can be little doubt that ambitious targets like net zero challenge industry to do more, and this report really does help visualise the practical steps to be taken.”
