Homes currently heated by oil could receive incentive payments for switching to a new bio-liquid heating fuel

(05/02/2010)

OFTEC was instrumental in the successful campaign to include the option of using blends of bio liquids to heat buildings in the consultation paper for the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which was issued by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) earlier this month.

Under the proposed RHI, homes and other buildings using renewable heat technologies will qualify for regular incentive payments from OFGEM for up to 20 years after installation. For some technologies payments could be as high as £1,400 per annum for an average sized house.

The UK’s 1.4 million homes currently heated by oil could be able to receive incentive payments for switching to a new bio-liquid heating fuel. The Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) believes that these plans are vital to encourage consumer take-up.

OFTEC has been working in partnership with the ICOM and the University of East Anglia to develop a new bio-fuel which can be used in existing oil boilers with minor modifications. The bio-fuels project has helped provide a body of evidence to DECC to show that bio-heating fuels can easily deliver green house gas savings in the heating sector at a lower cost than other technologies.

Three liquid bio-fuels have been successfully field trialled in Norfolk as part of a joint venture between OFTEC, ICOM, and the University of East Anglia. Two of these are blends of kerosene with a Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) bio-kerosene content at 30% and at 50% FAME (B30K and B50K). One is a blend of diesel (gas-oil) with a FAME content of 30% (B30D). The specification for these fuels will be published during 2010.

Commenting on the announcement about the RHI, Jeremy Hawksley, OFTEC director general said, “We welcome the move to include the new bio-liquid heating fuel within the consultation paper for the RHI, which is good news for both the environment and the consumer. 47% of our CO2 emissions in the UK and Ireland come from buildings and therefore it is a key area to target in reducing our carbon footprint. Homes currently heated by oil will be able to switch to bio-fuel with very little effort and at very low cost. We hope the fuel will be available from later this year.

“Under the RHI, this will enable householders to claim annual payments towards the cost of their fuel from April 2011. In the UK there are nearly 1.4 million, mainly rural and semi rural homes, heated by oil and we estimate that 90% of these and many homes off the mains gas grid, will be using the new fuel by 2020.”

The association also welcomed the announcement that a fossil fuel levy will not be applied, as had been muted and that the RHI will be funded from general taxation.

“The decision not to immediately apply a fossil fuel tax is sensible. This would have increased fuel bills when home budgets are tight and would have risked increasing fuel poverty.”

Related categories:  Biofuels and biomass   Environmental technologies for Residential and Green homes