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Proceeding contribution from Sarah Newton (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 30 June 2010. It occurred during Debate on Energy Efficiency.


Energy Efficiency

That is extremely welcome news. That is marvellous, and—to return to my ground heat pump manufacturers—they will be able to provide ground heat for businesses, hospitals and schools, as they do at the moment. I should be grateful if Ministers would consider one other matter in the context of renewable heat, and that is the incentive. The renewable heat incentive, as hon. Members will know, was designed to support the installation of a wide range of renewable heat technologies by compensating owners for the increased capital costs of such systems. I think it is an extremely bold and good idea, and Ministers will be receiving replies to the consultation process that was started by the last Government. Having listened to manufacturers in my constituency, I believe that although it is a good idea, some unfortunate anomalies have crept into the calculation of the tariff. The Carbon Trust and ground heat pump manufacturers have highlighted an inconsistency in the tariff calculations for the RHI that is having the unintended consequence of effectively doubling the rate of return for air source heat pump installations. It has been well proven that ground source heat pumps are a far more efficient way of producing energy over time than air source pumps. If the tariff continues as it stands in the proposals, it will severely disadvantage the ground source pump industry and other renewable technologies; indeed, it might, sadly, eliminate both of those technologies just when we need to be encouraging businesses to supply and manufacture such products in this country. I would be very grateful if Ministers would urgently review the consultation process and look at the tariff for small air source heat pumps.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
512 c950-1 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Conservation Boilers Carbon capture and storage Energy Energy supply Insulation Fuels Fossil fuels Warm front scheme Renewable energy Carbon emissions reduction target
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk