UK Announces Grant Of $6,860 Per Household For Installing Low-Carbon Boilers

The British government announced a new strategy Monday to replace old boilers with low-carbon heating systems in households across England and Wales to reduce the country's dependency on fossil fuels.

"New grants of £5,000 [$6,860] will be available from April next year to encourage homeowners to install more efficient, low-carbon heating systems – like heat pumps that do not emit carbon when used – through a new £450 million 3-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme," a government statement said.

The statement said that through the Heat and Buildings Strategy, it has set out its plan "to incentivize people to install low-carbon heating systems in a simple, fair and cheap way as they come to replace their old boilers over the coming decade."

The replacement of boilers "will significantly reduce the UK's dependency on fossil fuels and exposure to global price spikes whilst supporting up to 240,000 jobs across the UK by 2035."

"As we clean up the way we heat our homes over the next decade, we are backing our brilliant innovators to make clean technology like heat pumps as cheap to buy and run as gas boilers – supporting thousands of green jobs," said Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"Our new grants will help homeowners make the switch sooner, without costing them extra, so that going green is the better choice when their boiler needs an upgrade."

The UK "will make a decision on the potential role for hydrogen in heating buildings by 2026," according to the government.

"Heat pump technology will play a key role in all scenarios, so for those who want to install them now, we are supporting them to do so."

The new strategy was announced only two weeks before the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), where world leaders will discuss how to reduce carbon emissions across the globe.

COP26, which was originally scheduled to take place in November 2020 in Glasgow in the UK but was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is being hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy. -