Heat Pumps

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Monday 22nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Lord makes a very good point. I have worked closely with local authorities on many of these schemes. The heat and buildings strategy is a priority, and we are aiming to publish shortly after the conclusion of the local elections in England and, of course, the elections in Scotland and Wales. The strategy will set out the important role of local authorities in supporting heat decarbonisation, including raising awareness of the support available to increase voluntary uptake of low-carbon heating systems.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, one of the biggest problems in reducing carbon emissions is domestic gas heaters. What are the Government doing about finding a way to enable residents of blocks of flats to exchange their gas heaters for electric ones?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness draws attention to an important problem. Of course, given the diversity of heat demand, no one solution can provide the best option for everyone; we suspect that a mix of technologies and customer options will need to be available if we are to be able to decarbonise heat at scale, particularly in blocks of flats.