Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing Government financial support for the development of infrared heating systems.

Achieving net zero carbon emissions will require almost all UK homes to be supplied with low-carbon heating by 2050, and electrification will be an important part of that transition. Extensive government and independent analysis indicate that heat pumps are a cost-effective solution and will be a principal means of decarbonising heat in buildings through electrification over the next decade. There may be a role for alternative technologies, like infrared heating, but research to date – including our 2019 report ‘Evidence gathering for electric heating options in off gas grid homes’ – suggests this should be limited to specific use cases, such as smaller homes with low heat demand.

BEIS officials continue to assess the merits of different heating technologies and support to develop these technologies is available through schemes including the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and Clean Growth Fund. I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I have given him today to Question 33096 for further information on these schemes.