However, the adoption of these energy-saving measures is highly dependent on government policy, according to an analysis by Cambridge Econometrics, commissioned by Greenpeace. Currently, ministers have little planned to encourage households to adopt home insulation, although the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, is expected to make a major announcement on the economy and energy crisis on Friday. Through the boiler upgrade scheme, the government offers households up to £5,000 towards a heat pump, which is around half the cost. But uptake has so far been slow. To win the government incentive, households must meet a high standard of home insulation, which can cost between £7,000 and £15,000, and for which there is currently no government support for the average homeowner. Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist, said: “The UK is in economic, energy and climate collapse. Yet the government continues to shy away from green housing upgrades that offer a sustainable way out of this mess. It’s really confusing.” The economic boost forecast in the analysis by Cambridge Econometrics, entitled Economic Impacts of Decarbonising Heating in Residential Buildings, and published by Greenpeace on Tuesday, comes mainly from savings on soaring energy bills and the creation of green jobs and the positive impact in the rest the economy from the liberalization of citizens’ spending. There are also health and social benefits, as people living in unheated homes are more prone to disease, while lifting people out of fuel poverty improves their well-being and children’s educational prospects. Parr said: “Greening UK homes at speed and scale will reduce energy consumption, bills and carbon emissions. It will provide tens of millions of households with warmer homes that will be cheaper to run and help limit the devastating effects of the climate crisis. As the UK heads into recession, it could boost the economy by nearly £7bn by the end of the decade.” According to the modeling used in the report, in 2030 the government will need to spend £4.2 billion on supporting heat pumps and insulation, with households spending £9.3 billion. That year, households would also save £11 billion through lower heating costs. According to the study, the investment required by the government for an insulation and heat pump installation subsidy scheme would total around £27.7bn from 2022 to 2030. Greenpeace urged Kwarteng to commit £7 billion to insulation and heat pump installations over the next two years and provide more support to those in fuel poverty through a windfall tax on oil and gas companies of 70% of their profits. Prime Minister Liz Truss has capped energy bills at £2,500 a year for the average household, significantly lower than the £3,500 expected under the previous system of calculating energy price caps. But the freeze will mean the government will hand over around £150bn to energy companies, which critics have said does little to tackle the root causes of the crisis, including the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels, homes that barriers to renewable energy are also leaking. The most important stories on the planet. Get all the week’s environmental news – the good, the bad and the must-haves Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Insulation is the cheapest way to cut energy bills, experts have been saying repeatedly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices skyrocketing this February. But the government has made no move since then to improve home insulation rates, to the consternation of experts and green campaigners. Insulation rates fell by 50% last year and there has been no government support for average households in England to install insulation since the Green Home Grant was scrapped in March 2021 after it was “failed” to manage. Insulation rates have been low for the past decade and the UK has continued to build new homes that use gas boilers, lack solar panels and are not built to low carbon standards, so expensive retrofits will be required to meet the net zero greenhouse gas target emissions by 2050. Financial markets expect natural gas prices to remain high for at least two years, and some predict it could be much longer. Jon Stenning, head of environment at Cambridge Econometrics, said: “Improving the quality of the UK’s housing stock and switching to low-carbon heating technologies can immediately reduce household bills and remove the hard-pressed household from having to choose between heating and consuming it. winter, while also delivering greater economic growth and significant carbon savings in the long term.” Michael Lewis, chief executive of E.ON UK, the energy company, said: “We’ve seen the personal impact of people living in warmer, more comfortable homes – not just lower bills but families having healthier lives on the streets and estates that are simply more beautiful places to live.”
