“The fact the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) doesn’t yet include bio oil is short sighted, to say the least.
“All of the current RHI proposals assume that a homeowner with an oil-fired boiler user will remove their boiler, significantly improve the insulation levels, double glazing, heating system etc of their property and then fit a heat pump after all this has taken place.
“The reality is that boiler replacements most often occur as a distress purchase, when an existing boiler has broken down – often in the depths of winter. People generally can’t afford to wait for their property to be made ‘heat pump ready’, so will simply replace their oil-fired boiler with another oil-fired boiler. Given this fact, we should be encouraging customers to use bio oil as a more carbon-friendly source of energy.
“Not only do biofuels have a realistic chance of meeting peoples’ requirements in a time of need, they also make environmentally-friendly technology accessible and affordable to more homes. If we’re serious about getting people in the UK involved in environmentally-friendly and highly efficient technology, bio oil needs to be included within the RHI.
“It has to be recognised that the variety of technologies currently available under the RHI will not meet all needs, environments or financial circumstances. However, the inclusion of bio oil in the RHI could change this. In an ideal world I’d like to see bio oil recognised within the RHI and building regulations as well as installers and end-users, being encouraged to upgrade inefficient oil-fired boilers with modern condensing models, to enable greater efficiency across the board. This will mean a change of mind set but it’s a change that needs to happen.”
[author image=”https://www.installeronline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/martynbridges.jpg” ]Martyn Bridges began his career as a heating and plumbing apprentice and has grown up with a strong knowledge of the technical side of boilers. He joined Worcester, Bosch Group in 1986 as a Technical Service Engineer and worked his way through the ranks to become Director of Marketing and Technical Support in December 2004. [/author]
