LAST week, the Government published its Heat and Buildings Strategy.

Buried in the text, and barely commented upon, as most of the interest was aimed at those with gas boilers, was a proposal which, if enacted, will ban the sale of new oil boilers both in new homes and as a replacement for existing homes from 2026, just five years away.

This will have major ramifications for an area like Craven where many houses are off the gas grid and rely on oil for heating.

A large number of these properties are listed, constructed with solid stone walls and floors, are located in a conservation areas, AONBs or national parks and are therefore totally unsuited to the high levels of insulation required by air sourced heat pumps which the government, despite all the evidence, seems determined to force on as many homes as possible.

The fact that buildings with stone walls need to 'breathe' and high levels of insulation, if it could be fitted, would likely cause damp and condensation problems seems not to register.

Fortunately there is a potential ready made solution which the government, with its heat pump obsession, seems determined to ignore and that is by the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil. This is produced by use of waste plant material, similar to bio-diesel and the Ethanol contained within the new E10 petrol.

Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) have been running trials using HVO as a replacement for Kerosene which have been largely successful. It is a virtual 'drop in' solution using the existing tank, pipework, tanker delivery network and most oil boilers can be adapted to run on HVO at minimal cost, certainly when compared to a heat pump installation.

HVO is certified as sustainable by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification scheme and results in an almost immediate carbon reduction of 90 per cent (compared to Kerosene).

I would urge readers to seek out the Heat and Buildings Strategy and comment online in the off grid section of that document. I would also suggest writing to your MP to point out this potential easy route to carbon reduction.

As my 300-year old barn conversion is most unsuitable for a heat pump I will, if this proposal proceeds, be forced to fit a new oil boiler in 2025 to avoid the ban. Not because I do not believe in going green, or because my existing oil boiler which may still be working needs immediate replacement, but because the government will have left me with no realistic or practical alternative.

Andrew Diggens

Eldroth

Austwick