Emissions: Housing

Lord Oates Excerpts
Monday 22nd June 2020

(3 years, 10 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Callanan Portrait Lord Callanan [V]
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I am happy to agree with the noble Lord that fuel poverty is devolved. I have not personally had meetings with members of the Scottish Government or the Welsh Government, but I am always happy to do so.

Lord Oates Portrait Lord Oates (LD) [V]
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Does the Minister agree that in addition to insulating the existing housing stock, we must replace the boilers in these homes if we are to meet our net-zero target? Is he aware that as of today this means replacing over 2,000 boilers every day, 365 days a year every year until 2050—and we have not even started yet? What will the Government do about that?

Lord Callanan Portrait Lord Callanan [V]
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We do not necessarily need to replace every boiler. There are a number of alternative courses of action. One would be to investigate the use of hydrogen as an alternative. Already we have pilot programmes that will enable boilers to be quickly and easily upgraded to work on hydrogen.