Little progress made on energy efficiency in UK homes, report finds

(The Guardian, 27 Mar 2023) National Infrastructure Commission accuses ministers of ‘prevarication’ over installation of heat pumps.

Ministers have made negligible progress in improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s homes even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underscored the need to cut the reliance on gas for home heating, according to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).

The independent infrastructure tsars’ annual report warned that the progress towards improving the UK’s infrastructure “stuttered further” last year, despite the need for increased investment to meet its economic and climate goals.

The report took aim at the government’s record on insulating the UK’s draughty housing stock and the sluggish take-up of electric heat pumps to help cut emissions from home heating, even as the UK’s reliance on gas cost the economy billions due to Europe’s energy crisis.

Sir John Armitt, the chair of the NIC, said there was “a significant gap between long-term ambition and current performance”, which required “a change of gear in infrastructure policy”.

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The Guardian, 27 Mar 2023: Little progress made on energy efficiency in UK homes, report finds