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Please take a few minutes to complete our short survey.
It will help us gauge how many households may potentially be interested in switching to
Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).
Survey Questions
Are you aware trials are already taking place for a renewable liquid fuel (HVO) solution?
Decarbonising the emissions from oil heated homes can be a complex and difficult challenge.
Homes in the Channel Islands that use oil heating tend to be more diverse in character, age, design and construction and collectively can pose a unique and difficult decarbonisation challenge.
- Many oil heated homes are energy inefficient. Using the UK as an example, 97% of oil heated homes will require insulation first.
- The construction of these properties are often detached and typically larger than average with hard to insulate walls.
- Some households face significant financial challenges, with limited disposable income, little or no savings and high levels of unsecured debt. This means they have little capacity to act.
Homes that have the poorest energy rating (EPC band E-G) are among the most difficult to convert to electric heat pump systems and will usually require significant insulation and other improvements such as double-glazing, underfloor insulations, cavity wall insulation and external wall cladding. These are very costly and disruptive to install.
The average costs to upgrade a home are provided below:
| Energy Efficiency Measures | Average Installation Cost |
|---|---|
| Improved loft insulation | £180 to £3,500 |
| Replacement windows and external doors | £1,200 to £10,000 |
| External wall insulation | £4,300 to £20,000 |
| Cavity wall insulation | £300 to £1,200 |
| Internal wall insulation | £2,500 to £11,600 |
| Floor insulation | £550 to £900 |
*These figures come from the ‘BEIS, What does it cost to retrofit homes’ report.
In some cases, the cost of renovating existing properties to achieve an energy rating of EPC C (Energy Performance Certificate) is likely to greatly exceed any return that could possibly be achieved by the owners.
While we would always recommend improvements to insulation where cost effective, it is likely that converting these properties to use an electric heat pump may be difficult. In such cases, the benefits of being able to use a renewable liquid fuel to achieve a substantial cut in carbon emissions while continuing to heat the building effectively, are clear.
These homes would need to undergo significant and expensive upgrades to make them suitable for efficient heat pump use. This could cost customers between £12,000 to £18,000* per property. This is on top of the cost to install a heat pump or biomass boiler.
The cost of conversion for many systems to a renewable fuel such as HVO would be as little as £500. Saving the homeowner at least £11,000.
*MCS Average costs of certified installations data 2019.
HVO
HVO, is a renewable liquid fuel made from certified waste fats and oils and manufactured by a synthesised process with hydrogen to create a greener, cleaner fuel.
The ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) confirms HVO is a sustainable fuel that is made from waste products or crops and doesn’t contribute to deforestation.
We hope to introduce the new fuel in 2022, subject to the completion of successful trials and obtaining approval to use HVO as a heating fuel. Our aim is to then enable existing oil heating users to convert to the new fuel gradually during the 2020s and 2030s.
At present HVO is more expensive than heating oil and we are looking at ways that we can best introduce the new fuels and reduce the cost.
Even if HVO is more expensive, it is likely to be much cheaper than switching to a completely different heating system.