Low-Carbon Heat Conference 2022 Programme

The Scottish Government published its Heat in Buildings Strategy last year, vowing to “meet our climate change targets whilst maximising economic opportunities, ensuring a just transition and addressing fuel poverty”. Civil servants are now consulting on a National Public Energy Agency, and a Green Heat Finance Taskforce has been established. This session will examine the policy levers being put in place to enable the decarbonisation of heat.

In this session you will learn:

• Whether our current policy levers are ambitious enough to decarbonise heat
• How actions taken locally match up with national actions
• How heat fits in to network planning

Welcome
Morag Watson, Director of Policy, Scottish Renewables

Ministerial Address
Patrick Harvie MSP, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights

Chair
Helen Melone, Senior Policy Manager, Scottish Renewables

Panellists
Stewart Reid, Head of Future Networks, Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN)
Lars Fabricius, Managing Director, SAV Systems

Q & A

How do the targets and strategies set out on low-carbon heat translate to what’s happening on the ground? This session will look at how proposed ambitions for 200,000 heat pump installations every year by the late 2020s will impact companies, and how the actions set out in the Heat Networks Delivery Plan will be rolled out.

In this session you will learn:

• What is needed to move from strategy to reality – and where industry fits in
• Opportunities for industry to benefit from the move to decarbonise heat
• How the Heat Networks Delivery Plan will achieve the Heat Networks Act targets

Speakers
Dr Roddy Yarr, Executive Lead Sustainability, University of Strathclyde
Matthew Black, Sales and Business Development Scotland, Kensa Contracting
Sarah-Jane McArthur, Partner, Brodies LLP Solicitors

Q & A

Focus on the heat supply chain has been increasing recently, with prices rising across the board. Research is being carried out to project the future potential for heat jobs in Scotland, while a Supply Chain Delivery Plan should be published later in 2022. Find out in this session what the opportunities are for Scottish businesses operating in the heat sector to maximise their existing workforces. 

In this session you will learn:

• Where the gaps in the heat supply chain lie
• How many low-carbon heat jobs are forecast by 2030
• What support is being offered to industry to help build the numbers needed to meet net-zero

Speakers
Craig Frew, Economy, Skills and Supply Chain Team Leader, Heat in Buildings Division, Scottish Government
Emma Church, Impact Manager, Built Environment – Smarter Transformation
Ruth Bush, Principal Consultant – Low Carbon Policy and Planning, Ramboll

Q & A

Hydrogen is being described as a sustainable alternative to burning fossil fuels and mooted as a way to decarbonise some of our more difficult sectors, such as heating buildings. But opinion is divided on whether we should electrify heat first, or have green hydrogen either blended into the gas network or fully replace natural gas. This session will explore some of the work being done to research this issue, and we’ll hear from various organisations working in this space.

In this session, you will learn:

• About an existing research project in Scotland using green hydrogen to heat homes
• Whether using hydrogen for heating would be effective, efficient and affordable
• About emerging research linking district heating with hydrogen

Speakers
Fergus Tickell, System Transformation & Business Development Lead, SGN Energy Futures
Charlotte Owen, Principal Energy Policy Adviser, Royal Danish Embassy in London

Q & A