Technical options and strategies for decarbonizing UK housing

The implications of some technical options for decarbonizing the UK domestic sector are explored. The main focus is on interactions between dwellings and the energy supply and conversion systems that support them, rather than on the detail of the dwelling stock. Synergies between the electricity supply system, intermediate energy-conversion systems and the dwelling envelope make it possible to achieve 60-70% reductions in CO2 emissions with plausible combinations of existing and/or emerging technologies. Sensitivity analysis shows that a halving of the carbon intensity of the UK electricity system, plausible improvements to dwelling envelopes, and extensive use of second law energy-conversion systems (typified by, but not restricted to, heat pumps and combined heat and power) to supply space and water heating render total CO2 emissions insensitive to demolition rates. As a result, increased demolition rates may be unnecessary to achieve deep cuts in carbon emissions from dwellings. Additional insights from this study are the strategic importance of decarbonizing the electricity system and the importance, in developing policy for this sector, of synergies between all components of the energy supply, distribution, conversion and end-use system.