The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has called on the UK government to ban the installation of conventional gas boilers in homes from 2025.
Alternatives such as heat pumps, hybrid systems, and hydrogen-ready boilers should instead be installed to ensure the UK is on track to meet net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the CBI.
The recommendations are outlined in a new report, which also warns that all heating installations will need to be zero-carbon by 2035, with only compatible technologies like air source or ground source heat pumps, hydrogen boilers or heat networks deployed.
Lord Karan Bilimoria, president of the CBI and chair of its newly-formed Heat Commission, said that the UK's zero-emissions target is “doomed to fail“ unless urgent action is taken to decarbonise heat from homes and buildings.
“The commission's recommendations offer a roadmap to accelerate progress, ensure our nation stays on a path to sustainable recovery and ensures the UK remains a global leader in meeting climate commitments,“ he added.
Heat is the largest single source of UK carbon emissions, accounting for over one-third, with half of this coming from domestic buildings, the majority of which are heated by natural gas boilers.
The CBI's report, published in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, also calls for a national energy efficiency programme to deliver low-carbon heat, which would build on funding announced by the chancellor this month for the Green Homes Grant.
A time-limited 'Olympics-style' national delivery body should lead the development and implementation of a national heat decarbonisation strategy, according to the report, which can be delivered by relevant government departments to coordinate at both a regional and local level.
Priorities should include decarbonising transport and industrial emissions reduction, decentralising electricity supplies and support local energy plans devised by local authorities.
“The level of coordination to deliver this needs to reach from the regional to national, with appropriate resource being devolved to the local level to be successful,“ said the University of Birmingham's professor Martin Freer.
“The level of complexity and the urgency for change means the transition cannot be left to chance and a national delivery body is essential.
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