New heat networks consented from 2023 will need to use heat from low or zero emissions sources, the Scottish Government said in a consultation published on 5 February 2021. The requirement forms part of the draft heat in buildings strategy, which sets out proposed actions to meet Scotland's climate change targets1.
The consultation states that new buildings, starting with new homes consented from 2024, will be required to use zero direct emissions heating1. For heat networks, the qualifying sources named are surplus or waste heat and low carbon or green hydrogen1.
The scale of the change is set out in the same document. Emissions from homes and non-domestic buildings combined will have to fall by 68% by 2030 compared with 20201. By 2030, around 50% of homes, or over a million households, will need to convert to a zero or low emissions heating system, including the vast majority of the 167,000 off-gas homes using oil, LPG and solid fuels, and at least 1 million homes on mains gas1. A further 50,000 non-domestic properties are expected to need conversion by the same date1.
The current housing stock is described in the consultation. There are around 2.5 million occupied dwellings in Scotland, accounting for 15% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions1. About 2 million homes use mains gas as their primary heating fuel, while over 450,000 do not, of which around 170,000 use high emission fuels such as heating oil, LPG or coal1. Only around 11%, approximately 278,000 households, have a renewable or very low emissions heating system, and an estimated 34,000 homes are connected to heat networks1.
On energy efficiency, 45% of Scotland's homes were rated EPC C or better in 2019, with social housing at 56% and the private sector at 41%1. The share of dwellings rated EPC C or better has risen by 27 percentage points since 20101. Of approximately 220,000 non-domestic buildings, almost three in four have a current EPC of E or worse and only 5 percent are EPC B or better1.
"new heat networks consented from 2023 will need to use heat from low or zero emissions sources"
Why it matters for households
For a household connected to a heat network, the proposal fixes the carbon content of the heat supplied rather than the technology inside the home. A network built to these rules cannot run on unabated gas, so the emissions of the building are determined at the plant rather than at the individual dwelling. The consultation notes that existing heat networks are predominantly fuelled by gas, and that the 34,000 homes already connected are not counted among the 11% with renewable or very low emissions heating1.
For households not on a network, the same document sets out the wider direction: new homes consented from 2024 must use zero direct emissions heating, and by 2030 over a million households are expected to need to convert1. The consultation also proposes reforming the EPC assessment process so that ratings reflect the measures needed for energy efficiency, an appropriate zero emissions heating supply and the cost of heating after those improvements, on the grounds that current metrics can disincentivise zero emissions systems1. Energy efficiency is described as a critical precursor to deploying many zero emissions systems and as central to fuel poverty interventions1.
What happens next
The document is a draft strategy issued for consultation to gather evidence and views1. It states an intention to require new buildings, starting with new homes consented from 2024, to use zero direct emissions heating, and new heat networks consented from 2023 to use low or zero emissions heat sources1. The consultation does not set out a commencement date for the heat network requirement beyond the 2023 consent threshold1.