Industry’s wishlist for the next government

Now that the political parties have revealed their manifestos ahead of the General Election on 4 July, what would the manufacturing side of our industry like to see from the next government?

Glynn Williams, UK managing director of Grundfos, says: “There is still too much focus on insulation as a sole measure in all the main political parties’ manifestos.

“Policymakers should focus on low-cost, high-impact improvements that can quickly benefit homes and businesses. The future government could also extend or earmark upgrades to existing boiler and insulation schemes to include cost-effective and easily implementable solutions such as circulators, TRVs or hydraulic balancing.”

Daikin, meanwhile, says the next government needs clearly defined policies to support the roll-out of low-carbon heating in homes, coupled with incentives for installing it. It also wants investment in infrastructure, training, job creation and communications. It says the cost of electricity in comparison with gas needs to be reduced, and that the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, or an equivalent, should be introduced as soon as possible.

The heat pump manufacturer wants the use of hydrogen for home heating ruled out, instead redirecting the money that would have been spent on upgrading the gas network to the electricity grid.

Trade body the Energy and Utilities Alliance has its focus on consumers. Its policy asks include calling for a positive decision on repurposing the gas distribution network for hydrogen. It also supports hybrid heating and heat networks and says they should be included in energy schemes such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Rinnai’s Operations director Chris Goggin says the main parties both say that decarbonising the national electricity grid is a priority that will enable cheaper customer costs and increase clean energy usage. However, they are yet to agree on an appropriate pathway.

He adds: “We need to keep in mind also that future energy policy is dependent on wider international energy market conditions and geopolitical influences. There is no doubt that there are no easy or quick answers to the question of providing energy to both commercial and domestic markets.”