ADBA responds to the Committee on Climate Change’s housing report

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has recently released its joint report with Adaptation Committees assessing measures that they feel need to be adopted in the housing sector to manage climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The CCC report states there are currently 27.2 million households in the UK and the government is committed to building around 1.5 million new homes by 2022. The quality of these homes, both existing and planned, is critical in addressing climate change as well as safeguarding people’s health and wellbeing, claims the CCC.

The report assesses policies and actions for existing homes and new builds across the UK. It considers the current state of play and what is needed for low carbon heat, energy efficiency, cooling and ventilation, broader life-cycle carbon associated with homes, 11 peak electricity demand management, water efficiency, property level flood resilience, surface water flood alleviation, green spaces and infrastructure, and sustainable transport.

Responding to the report, Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association, said “The CCC is absolutely right to highlight the vital role that biomethane from anaerobic digestion is playing and will need to continue playing in decarbonising the 300 TWh of existing UK domestic gas demand.”

Morton added, “Decarbonising the UK’s housing stock requires planning for the long term that keeps all options on the table but also immediate action to reduce emissions in the short term, given the urgent need to avoid the worst effects of climate change.”

“Biomethane is a low-carbon alternative to natural gas available today that can be injected directly into the huge existing asset that is the gas grid. The biomethane industry is, however, facing a funding cliff-edge in the 2020s, with no support for this vital source of renewable heat currently available to new producers beyond 2021.”

“We’re therefore pleased to see the CCC join our calls for government to commit to supporting biomethane post-2021 as soon as possible to give businesses and investors in the industry the confidence they need to invest in green gas,” Morton concluded.

 

Read the full report here.