Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, Norman Lamb, has called on the government to develop a strategy for decarbonising heating, recommending a mix of different low carbon heating technologies.
On 6 September, Lamb made a select committee statement following the publication of the committee’s report, Clean growth: Technologies for meeting emissions reduction targets in late August. Lamb stated that large-scale trials of technologies such as hydrogen, heat pumps and heat networks were needed now to ensure the evidence is available for future decisions. Lamb also recommended the government ensure that regulations are able to deliver new buildings that are ready for a net zero future. Elsewhere, the North Norfolk MP called for the government to make sure there is strong policy support for building new onshore wind and large-scale solar projects, as well as repowering existing ones where there are projected cost savings for consumers over the long-term and local support.
Lamb went on to warn that reaching the government’s 2050 net zero target will require “the active removal of significantly more greenhouse gas from the atmosphere than envisaged in any of the previous illustrative pathways”. This will mean that a “significant increase” in current support for greenhouse gas removal technologies is required, he explained, before recommending that funding for the research, development and demonstration of such technologies is increased.
