Climate heroes

When you think of the drive to wean the UK off carbon-based fuels and into a green economy, who are the climate heroes leading the charge?

Well politicians certainly have a part to play and the Government’s commitment to be net zero by 2050 is a welcome show of intent, although the ‘real’ climate heroes are the humble plumbers according to recent research conducted by the Social Market Foundation.

The cross party think tank identifies plumbers as being key to a net free future and has called for urgent action to recruit and train thousands of new apprentices.

The timely call comes as families across Britain facing massive rises in energy bills with gas-fired boilers proving the most costly.

With heating accounting for 14% of carbon emissions, meeting the UK’s net zero goals rests in large part on there being enough plumbers to replace millions of gas boilers with new heat pumps.

Heat pumps can warm buildings by transferring thermal energy from a warm source – such as ground, air or water – to a cooler space, with ground source pumps being the most efficient.

Ground source heat pump installations have very low running costs because they exploit natural characteristic of the earth to store thermal energy. In very cold weather, when heating is most needed, a ground source heat pump has access to warmer temperatures from the ground than an air source heat pump has from ambient air

The Government has set a target of 600,000 new heat pumps to be installed by 2028 but the Foundation warns that won’t happen unless enough young people are inspired to take up the trade.

Its report calls for plumbers to be celebrated as key workers with incentives to attract thousands of new recruits in addition to giving existing gas-boiler installers, many of whom are self-employed, the confidence to retrain for heat pump installation.

It’s a sensible call and further evidence that net zero doesn’t have to mean net job loss.