A recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) supports the rollout of clean energy technologies at a greater rate.

The May 2024 report ‘Strategies for Affordable and Fair Clean Energy Transitions‘ makes the case for taking steps toward the increased installation of clean energy technology worldwide. This includes heat pumps.

The report also argues in favour of making such technology more accessible with the end goal of making energy cheaper.

The IEA report also discusses how the global energy crisis showed the risks of the current non-renewable fossil-fuel energy system and its susceptibilities to a range of challenges and hazards.

One concern raised by the IEA is the obstacle posed by investment inertia favouring the traditional fuels and energy technologies in existence.

A recent report from the Public Accounts Committee similarly highlighted issues with clean energy technology sales. The PAC report specifically highlighted the need for heat pump costs to come down for increased adoption.

Current financial schemes to aid customers in heat pump installations include the Boiler Upgrade Scheme or BUS. This scheme saw applications leap by 75% from February 2023 to February 2024.

Despite existing government funds and growing interest, heat pumps remain expensive to install. Running costs are also high with heat pumps still costing more to run than gas boilers, despite a significant efficiency gap in favour of the former.

Ultimately, the IEA report highlights the need for an affordable transition to renewable energy and policies pushing affordability in this direction.