UK pays householders for renewable energy
The UK has taken a leap forward in helping households switch to renewable energy sources and ditch the conventional systems.
This week, the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive(RHI) project was launched, the first of its kind in the world.
It’s designed to offer householders monetary incentives to install low-carbon heating systems instead of other energy resources that rely on fossil fuels.
Through the RHI, not only will the UK reduce greenhouse gas emissions but it will also meet the targets for reducing the effects of climate change. Moreover, encouraging people to embrace renewable energy systems is always praise worthy.
The project is open to everyone but focus especially on those who rely on oil, liquid gas or electricity for heating. Technologies that could replace the conventional systems are biomass boilers that burn wood, roof-mounted solar thermal systems and ground or air-source heat pumps.
The most popular is the solar system that costs about £5,000 to install. According to RHI, homes that install such systems will receive 19.2p per kilowatt hour or, in other terms, around £315 a year. Each household could save an estimated sum of £11,000 over a period of 25 years, if they stop using other conventional fuel systems.
The sum received fluctuates according to the cost of installing a renewable energy system. For example, households installing a biomass boiler will receive £2,200 every year while those installing an air-source heat pump will generate an income of £1,000 per year.
These incentives add up to the money each family saves by renouncing oil-based heating systems which will cut down spending by £2,000-£3,000 on a yearly basis.
Bernhard Garside, who had recently installed an air-source heat pump system at the cost of £14,000 welcomes the RHI project with open arms: ‘Under the new domestic RHI I will receive an annual payment of at least £1,000. When I add this to the £2,500 savings I was previously paying for oil to run my expensive and very inefficient oil-fired boiler, I am saving at least £3,500 a year.’
