Could This Be the Future of Home Heating? Cornwall Calls for Government Backing

Photo: Aerial shot of Kehelland showing where homes and buildings have converted to using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil for heating

Cornwall Council is urging the government to provide greater support for renewable fuels, which could offer a lifeline to thousands of homes without a mains gas connection.

35,000 Homes Rely on Costly, High-Carbon Heating

Cllr Martyn Alvey, the council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, has written to energy security and net zero secretary Ed Miliband, highlighting the challenge faced by 35,000 homes, as well as numerous schools and community buildings, that are not connected to the gas grid.

With 14% of Cornish households dependent on expensive and high carbon-emitting heating sources such as oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the issue is particularly pressing. Many of these homes are more than a century old and located in rural areas, making them difficult to upgrade for cleaner electric heating solutions.

Cornwall’s Renewable Fuel Experiment

In his letter, Martyn praised a trial in Kehelland, near Camborne, where 20 households tested Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a renewable alternative to traditional heating oil. The pilot, led by Scorrier-based fuel supplier Mitchell & Webber, marked the first systematic test of HVO in Europe.

Following the success of the trial, Martyn is now calling on the government to provide more support for alternative renewable fuels for homes that cannot be connected to the mains gas grid.

“Cornwall has a much higher proportion of off mains gas homes than other parts of the UK, and when combined with our rich heritage, older housing stock and diverse methods and materials used to build Cornish homes, this creates a significant but not unachievable challenge for Cornwall in our ambitions to decarbonise our housing stock,” he said.

“Some 15% of Cornish households already have a certified renewable energy installation, including solar panels, heat pumps or battery storage, which is exceeding national deployment rates, and we are keen to explore the role alternative renewable fuels could play in this.

“I would urge the government to fully explore the use of alternative renewable fuels for home heating, including supporting proposed energy bill updates and the use of HVO as a drop-in transitional fuel in off mains gas homes and buildings.”

Calls for Government Action

John Weedon, director of Mitchell & Webber, welcomed the council’s push for greater support.

“We are extremely pleased that following their visit to Kehelland, Cornwall Council have recognised that Cornwall is at the forefront of decarbonising heating systems and this new renewable fuel is an ideal solution to help the properties and buildings on oil heating and which are unable to have another technology,” he said.

“It is excellent news that the energy minister has been invited to come and see the Cornish community where the exciting and successful trials all started back in 2020.”

Kehelland resident Dave Bigg, who has been using HVO as part of the trial, shared his experience.

“We’ve been using HVO as a direct replacement for kerosene in our old central heating boiler for nearly four years as part of the trial,” he said.

“Not only have we eliminated 90% of our CO2 emissions, but HVO has proved to be a superior fuel in so many other ways.”

With the trial showing promising results, all eyes are now on the government to see whether it will support the rollout of alternative renewable fuels across Cornwall and beyond.

Photo: Cllr Martyn Alvey visits Kehelland to see how homes and buildings have converted to using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil for heating