Breaking New Ground in the Renewable Heating Oil Market with Crown HVO
Climate change is a global emergency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we must switch from heating oil to renewable heating to help achieve net zero. We want to support this goal, which is why we’re thrilled to have been supporting OFTEC and UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA) in the early technical evaluation for building regulations and decarbonising home heating with HVO fuel as a viable clean-burning alternative.
This includes supplying Crown HVO fuel for heating oil national trials and advising OFTEC engineers and boiler manufacturers so that the fuel can be assessed and rolled out across the industry.
We believe these trials will play a key role in ensuring renewable liquid fuels are on the government’s agenda and are included in its net zero carbon emissions strategy.
What are the current low-carbon options being explored?
Decarbonising heat from off-the-grid homes and commercial buildings has been highlighted by the government as a priority towards achieving net zero due to its considerably high level of emissions. In 2015, the heating sector alone accounted for 32% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The government’s “Clean Growth Strategy” (2017) set out plans to eradicate the installation of high carbon fossil fuel heating in new and existing off-the-grid homes. Likewise, the “Future Homes Standard” (2019) proposed that all new buildings from 2025 must be fitted with low carbon heating to produce 75-80% lower carbon emissions.
Currently, heat pumps (and biomass where heat pumps are not practical) are the routes being explored by the government’s Climate Change Committee. But despite them incentivising these low carbon technologies, there has been little uptake over the last year.
The roadmap to net zero carbon emissions set out in the “Ten Point Plan” recognises the requirement to “avoid the need for costly retrofit” in new homes but doesn’t consider the high costs needed to modify existing homes.
These modern solutions currently supported by the government aren’t suitable for the average off-the-grid homeowner and their finances. Oil burners with heat pumps or biomass usually cost over £10,000, and even with the £4,000 government grant, there’s still an extra £6,000 that’s needed to make the transition!
That’s not taking into account the £15,000 that it will cost to bring over half of oil-heated homes up to EPC ‘C’ standard – the lowest required energy efficiency rating for these low-temperature technologies to work efficiently.
So, what is the solution to the sector’s high emissions?
Increasing evidence suggests there is a more cost-effective, practical option that has so far been overlooked in the government’s roadmap to net zero. Renewable liquid fuels, such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), provide a quick and easy solution to overcome many of the current barriers to decarbonisation.
Over 45 key players in the liquid fuel heating industry have called on the government to highlight their willingness to provide a cost-effective, more pragmatic solution to decarbonising oil heated homes over the current options being backed. This includes Kingspan and Grant Engineering who are vowing to assist in the rapid roll out of HVO in place of heating oil during the next five years.
Just like heating oil, only cleaner and better for the planet
HVO has been officially certified as a sustainable fuel by the ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) and is already in widespread use in diesel engines and machinery. Using HVO in boilers will result in significantly reduced harmful CO2 emissions through increased burning efficiency.
Other key benefits of using the paraffinic diesel as a heating oil are that HVO provides a much cleaner burn compared to kerosene and with zero aromatics, this makes it less harmful to health and the environment when storing and handling.
- Sustainable & renewable – made from certified sustainable waste materials
- Up to 90% reduction in net CO2 GHG emissions and significant reduction in notifiable emissions
- Drop-in alternative – easy to convert your boiler
- Low cost to switch to greener fuel
- Runs just as efficiently as heating oil – in some instances, even better!
- Safe to store and handle
A renewable heating oil for your boiler
HVO is a key contender against the emissions of modern renewable heating technologies and works well in all existing oil heating systems once burners and tanks have been inspected.
The good news is you don’t need to buy an expensive new heating system to make the switch. Huge reductions in emissions can be achieved by simply switching the fuel you use. HVO provides a workable solution for all housing types and incomes to avoid the financial burden which other low carbon options face.
Its similarities enable many existing heating oil systems to use HVO as a drop-in alternative, and where this is not possible, leading burner manufacturers have developed low-cost retrofits. This makes it a much more desirable scheme to incentivise, reducing the high costs needed from the consumer and therefore increasing uptake far sooner.
UKIFDA and OFTEC have launched a ‘Future Ready Fuels’ campaign to “fight” the shift to heat pumps. They are calling on fuel suppliers and customers to get involved and register interest on their website. They will then take these figures to the government and call on them to offer HVO as a viable and practical solution.
OFTEC has also recently published a HVO guide for registered engineers that details the work necessary to switch to HVO fuel, further enhancing the accessibility of the fuel.
We are thrilled to be leading the way in these trials as a much-needed clean-burning alternative and we call on the government to support widespread adoption with little expenditure or capital costs.
Find out more about HVO as a heating oil and contact our sustainable fuel specialists today on 0330 123 1444.
