Jon Dyar Boles

Heat pumps will struggle to compete with fossil fuel boilers until we fix electricity pricing. I spoke with the Financial Times for their article out today about this exact issue. My colleagues and I have researched this extensively. Our work on the total cost of ownership and the policies needed to make heat pumps affordable reveals several key findings: 🔹 Cost parity with gas boilers at SCoP of 3.3 in the UK with current grant support 🔹 Shifting levies from electricity bills to general taxation significantly lowers costs 🔹 Moving levies from electricity to gas creates the strongest incentive for switching 🔹 Time-of-use tariffs & heat pump-specific rates further improve affordability 💡 The right policies can make heat pumps cheaper compared to fossil fuel heating systems Paper coauthored by me at the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), University of Oxford, Oriel College, Oxford & Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), Jake Barnes at the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), University of Oxford, Ray Galvin at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), Sam O'Mara & Dr Richard Lowes at the University of Exeter and the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). Read our full paper here: https://lnkd.in/efkVbuE9

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🔥 Deal news in the UK EfW sector: Evero has sold its mothballed waste gasification plant in Hull to Ashcourt Group and Hame Capital. ♻️ The deal also covers the freehold land, previously owned by Aviva Investors, giving the new owners the platform to restart the facility and put it back into productive use. 🦺 After being sidelined in 2024 due to “unexpected technical issues”, the plant is now set for a second life. Here's what we know: ➡️ Planned restart in H1 2026 ➡️ Existing gasification technology to be retained ➡️ Backed by Yorkshire-based Ashcourt Group, with construction and materials expertise ➡️ Unlocks value from a stalled EfW asset while supporting UK energy and waste needs 💡Why it matters: This isn’t just the reactivation of a mothballed site, it could prove to be a leading example of how the UK can bring dormant EfW infrastructure back online to meet rising demand 🌍 📋 For local communities, it means renewed investment and the potential for skilled jobs, welcome news in a region that has recently seen the closure of Vivergo Fuels Ltd.’s bioethanol plant. 🏭 For the sector, it a welcome signal of investor confidence in advanced conversion technologies at a time when UK waste management capacity is under real pressure. Let's hope this restart shows what’s possible when capital, technology and opportunity align 🤝🏼 #energyfromwaste #efw #circulareconomy #sustainability #renewableenergy #wastemanagement #greenjobs #ukenergy #cleantech #decarbonisation

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Excited to hear that the UK is stepping up clean energy with new CCUS projects. The two CCUS projects, Connah’s Quay Low Carbon Power and Ince Bioenergy with CCS, are entering government-industry talks as part of the HyNet cluster. Together, they aim to capture millions of tonnes of CO2 annually and power 900,000 homes. These projects promise hundreds of skilled jobs and boost the UK’s leadership in clean energy and carbon capture. Officials stress the need for a clear long-term plan to fully unlock CCUS’s potential for net zero. #CCUS #HyNet #CarbonCapture

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Some seriously good news in the FT today on the surge in planning approvals for the UK's renewables sector. Over 16.1GW of new renewables capacity across 323 projects received planning approval during the second quarter, representing a 195 per cent increase on the same period last year - a three month period, which not entirely coincidentally, marked the last full quarter of the Conservative government. There was also a surge in energy storage projects, with the data showing more than 100 planning applications for battery energy storage systems were filed between April and June 2025, delivering a pipeline with 8.4GW of capacity and representing double the level recorded during the second quarter of 2024. The results follow confirmation from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme that installations of small scale solar, heat pump, and battery technologies have also sent records toppling this year. The most recent data confirmed there were a record 170,000 certified installations in the first six months of 2025, marking a 37 per cent increase on the first half of last year and a 33 per cent jump on the previous record, which was set in 2023. This all adds up to some seriously rapid progress. Give or take, the government wants to add 60GW to 70GW of new renewables capacity over the next five years. It is a daunting task and there are good reasons to be sceptical that it can be achieved. But then again, 16GW of new capacity was just approved inside three months. There is zero room for complacency. Concerns over grid connections and capacity, rising costs, curtailment payments, skills shortages, CCS, long duration storage, and supply chain bottlenecks all urgently need addressing. But planning barriers are being eased, political signals are having the desired effect, and investment is starting to motor. The debate over the government's clean energy ambitions will rumble on, but what is clear is that some serious momentum is starting to build. https://lnkd.in/eAzY23qh

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