The pathway to net zero heating in the UK

Abstract

The heating of homes is a major contributor to the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions accounting for 13% of total emissions. This is comparable to the carbon emissions of all petrol and diesel cars in the UK. 2 Meeting the UK government’s net zero emissions goal for 2050 will only be possible by complete decarbonisation of the building stock (both existing and new). While emissions from heating have fallen by 11% since 1990, much of which was driven by efficiency programmes and regulation in the period 2002-2012 3, continuing decarbonisation at this pace would get us to zero emissions from buildings in 235 years and fall far short of meeting the 2050 target.