By Paul Homewood
Union leaders have accused the Scottish Government of trying to “bully and intimidate homeowners” into installing heat pumps after statistics revealed less than 200 installations were completed under a key funding scheme in the space of seven months.
Patrick Harvie launched a public consultation on his proposed legislation to require Scots to replace polluting gas boilers with renewable heating systems such as heat pumps.
Under the proposals, modernised energy efficiency standards, which could take the type of heating system into account, as well as the insulation and fabric of the building, will need to be met from 2028.
The draft plans sets out that privately rented homes will be required to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard no later than 2028, while owner-occupied homes will need to meet those same standards by the end of 2033.
Mr Harvie said that all homes and non-domestic buildings will be required to end their use of polluting heating by the end of 2045.
But the GMB union has issued a warning about the strategy after statistics revealed under Freedom of Information showed that only 164 heat pumps that received funding under the Home Energy Scotland grant and loans scheme were signed off as completed in the first seven months of the initiative after it launched in December last year.
The total costs of the move to net zero heating systems in Scotland is estimated to be at least £33 billion, with only £1.8 billion pledged by the Scottish Government so far.
Claire Greer, GMB Scotland’s organiser in energy, claimed the small number of grants being completed in the first six months of the scheme, shows a widespread reluctance to instal the expensive heating systems.
She said: “These figures only confirm what everyone, including the Scottish Government, knows already, Scots simply cannot afford to fit heat pumps and to insist they must is a fantasy.
“Given that reluctance, the official determination to bully and intimidate homeowners into adopting heat pumps is both misguided and a missed opportunity.”
She added: “All that energy and resource should instead be used to investigate and implement better, quicker and more practical ways of driving towards net zero.
“They are refusing to even discuss practical measures which could cut emissions in the short to medium term while trying to bully Scots into spending a fortune on heat pumps.”
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December 5, 2023 at 01:33PM
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