The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) has warned the Government that the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive is badly designed, saying that in some circumstances it pays people to install systems that burn more fossil fuel and so emit more carbon dioxide1. The AECB published its warning on 12 November 2024, stating it is responding to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) consultation on the proposed scheme, which it says closes on Monday1.
The AECB's own words set out the claim:
"is today warning the Government that the proposed "Renewable Heat Incentive" is so badly designed that in some circumstances it actually pays people to install systems that burn more fossil fuel, and thereby, emit more CO 2"
The AECB describes itself as the Association for Environment Conscious Building1. The warning was issued as a downloadable document, listed at 180.15 KB and recorded as having 808 downloads1. The AECB's statement does not set out which specific technologies or circumstances would lead to higher fossil fuel use and emissions under the proposed scheme, and no such detail has been reported1.
The Renewable Heat Incentive is a payment scheme intended to support renewable heating. The AECB's intervention came during the consultation stage, when the rules were still being proposed rather than fixed. How policy of this kind is proposed, decided and changed is set out in the site's guide to energy consultations, and the department running the consultation is covered in the guide to DESNZ. The wider framework of carbon budgets and net zero targets against which such schemes are judged is covered in the guide to carbon budgets and the Climate Change Committee.
Why it matters for households
A subsidy scheme shapes what heating systems get installed in homes and how much they cost to run. If, as the AECB argues, the proposed design can reward systems that burn more fossil fuel and emit more carbon dioxide, then a household receiving a payment under the scheme would not necessarily be reducing its use of fossil fuels, which is the point of a renewable heat incentive1. For a home's energy independence, the design of the payment matters as much as its size: a scheme that supports genuinely renewable heat reduces exposure to fossil fuel prices, while one that does not leaves that exposure in place. The AECB's warning concerns the scheme as proposed, not as finally decided, and the outcome of the consultation has not been reported1.
What happens next
The AECB says the DECC consultation on the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive closes on Monday1. No further steps, decisions or dates have been reported1.