What Installers Need to Know About Net Zero
You may have noticed net zero being discussed frequently in the news. With the UK and the rest of the world searching for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, net zero is becoming a prevalent news topic. Yet, if you're an installer, you may be wondering exactly how this initiative affects you.
Here, the Energy Efficiency team at City Plumbing explains what net zero means and who it affects. We also consider ways to help installers reach it.
Where Does the Term Net Zero Come From?
Net Zero originated as a global target in response to the need to reduce climate change contributions. As the obvious catastrophic effects of climate change are playing out all around us daily, it’s become harder for the world to deny the repercussions of high greenhouse gas emissions.
With human activity the biggest contributor to these rising emissions, our reliance, and energy demand have played a significant factor for decades. Therefore, working on the scientific evidence, countries worldwide are now actively considering and implementing ways to start reducing their own carbon emissions contributions.
What is the UK Doing to Address Net Zero?
The UK is taking its responsibility to reduce carbon emissions seriously. By passing legislation to commit to net zero emissions by 2050, the UK is one of the first major economies to pledge to meet the target and thus transition to green technology and cleaner energy sources. The UK government intends to reduce UK greenhouse emissions by 100%.
Furthermore, though the target is 2050 to make the initiative a realistic timescale, the UK is working to implement changes that will take place ideally around 2030. This is in response to the government's 10 Point net zero strategy plan that will see £90 billion invested in 2030 to support the UK make that transition to cleaner, greener energy.
What Do We Mean by Net Zero?
When we talk about net zero, in its simplest terms we’re talking about reducing the amount of carbon that is put into the atmosphere. This carbon is a result of greenhouse gases that are produced predominantly by human activity.
Net zero is the balance achievable when the carbon we emit into the atmosphere is no more than the amount of carbon we remove from the atmosphere.
Such emissions are prevalent in transport, agriculture, aviation, and homes. So the concept is to cut the amount of carbon these put into the atmosphere or, where it’s not entirely possible to, actively reduce them.
How Do We Get To Net Zero by 2050?
To achieve the UK target of net zero, the main task is to reduce the country's current reliance on fossil fuels. This means investing in sustainable clean energy and green technology to replace such dependency.
By investing in low carbon technologies, such as heat pumps and electric vehicles, the government believes the UK can end its contribution to climate change by 2050 and sustain a greener and cleaner country.
What Does Net Zero Mean for Installers?
Overall, net zero is good news for the energy efficiency industry as a vast requirement of the target relies on decarbonising homes, heat, and buildings.
With funding allocated to making homes and buildings cleaner to run, as well as warmer and cheaper to heat, the installer’s role is to lead the way in energy efficiency. So, there's plentiful scope for recommending and installing simple and accessible product solutions including:
Air source heat pumps
Ground source heat pumps
Underfloor heating
Waste water heat recovery systems
Solar PV panels
Solar thermal panels
Mechanical ventilation heat recovery systems
Biomass boilers
EV charging points
For information on how to help the government meet its net zero targets as an installer, get in touch with the Energy Efficiency team at City Plumbing. Supporting design and estimate, we can provide further advice on the best renewable technologies to help homeowners and businesses make sustainable changes.
