Costly proposals to substitute electrically driven heat pumps for gas boilers imply expenditures of a minimum of £15,000 per household, whilst no consideration is given to how expensive electricity is to generate, transport and use, compared to gas. By the resultant energy bills spiralling the energy ratings of many properties would be so poor that they could not legally be rented out, creating chaos in the UKs housing provision.
Substituting hydrogen and/or ammonia gases for combustion compared to natural gas, as with electricity, would demand hugely expensive changes in technology and infrastructure which the energy companies would initially have to fund but leaving consumers ultimately to pay back.
Doubtless it challenges our existing parliamentary political system to devise and implement policies lasting 20 years, but a robust energy policy is now so crucial to the UKs economic health that a 20-year view needs to be taken.This will demand cross party co-operation, and an engineering, technological and educational investment on a scale not seen since the Second World War in order to avoid the economic and social meltdown of millions of citizens being reduced to penury through fuel poverty.
Elizabeth Marshall
Edinburgh
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