Scottish homeowners would be banned from selling their properties unless they swap gas boilers for heat pumps, under plans being considered by Humza Yousaf’s government.
According to the Scotsman:
Over a million Scots could be penalised for owning a fossil fuel boiler under new proposals to overhaul energy efficiency standards.
Green minister Patrick Harvie says households across Scotland have to clean up their heating systems “at a pace and scale that is consistent with Scotland’s legal climate targets”.
His proposals include giving properties with a fossil fuel boiler a lower EPC (energy performance certificate) than those with a modern heating system, such as a heat pump, by 2025, and insisting properties have at least an EPC band C rating before they can be put up for sale.
The zero carbon buildings minister also wants to see fossil fuel boilers banned from new buildings from next April.
This is in a bid to help meet Scotland’s target of cutting carbon emissions by 75 per cent by 2030, and be net zero by 2045 – five years earlier than the rest of the UK.
Mr Harvie has previously said this would cost £33 billion.
Writing in The Herald on Sunday, Mr Harvie said “the challenge is daunting, but the prize is huge”.
He said: “Improved energy efficiency is essential, but nowhere near enough.
“We can’t insulate our way to zero carbon buildings.
“To do that we need to change the way we heat homes.
“To meet our 2030 targets alone, more than one million Scottish homes will need to change to a climate-friendly heating system, a massive transition – as big as the shift from coal to gas last century, but in a shorter timescale.”
This comes after the Climate Change Committee wrote to Mr Harvie in February calling for the EPC system to be overhauled – it said EPCs should focus on energy use intensity, fabric, heating system type, and the cost of heating.
Mr Harvie added he hopes this will create thousands of skilled jobs for decades to come.
