Committee on Climate Change

Heat accounts for almost half of energy consumed in the UK and half of total carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Of this, homes use 54% of the heat consumed, non-residential buildings 16% and industry the remaining 30%.

However, industry is responsible for around half of heat related CO₂ emissions. This is due to a greater use of carbon-intensive fuels such as oil that is needed to generate the high temperatures required for process heat.

Currently less than 2% of the heat that we use comes from renewable sources, with the rest coming from gas, oil and coal. Low carbon heat can be produced using a variety of different technologies: biomass boilers, air and ground source heat pumps, solar thermal and biogas (see glossary for definitions of technologies). 

The UK has committed to an EU target to produce 15% renewable energy by 2020.  This is to be met by increasing the use of renewables in heat, transport and electricity generation. For heat, the Government has suggested that 12% of the heat that we use could be supplied by renewable energy in 2020.Our Renewable Energy Review sets out a detailed assessment of the enabling framework for renewable heat.