Bristol City Council in £3m bid for heat pumps to cut emissions

Councillor Kye Dudd said the authority would take lessons on how the project worked in Westbury-on-Trym "so we can roll it out across the city at a future stage"

More than £3m could be spent on fitting heat pumps in larger houses in a city suburb to encourage wealthier owners to cut carbon emissions.

Bristol City Council has applied for government funding to fit 200 pumps in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol.

The council said homeowners in the area tend to be better off, live in larger houses and may use more energy than the average Bristolian.

The funding of £3.3m was discussed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

If it is successful in the bid for the cash, the project would focus on training and building up a local supply chain, with the aim of eventually installing heat pumps across the city.

Labour Councillor Kye Dudd, cabinet member for climate, said: "[Westbury-on-Trym is] an area where a proportion are likely to be able to make a significant contribution to the cost of a heat pump, it's larger housing so there's space for heat pumps, and there's higher energy use than average so the carbon savings are higher."

'Sustainable technologies'

Under the project, homeowners would get a £5,000 grant towards a heat pump before footing the bill themselves on the final cost, thought to be a few thousand pounds more, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

They would also receive support with installation, and customer care after the pumps were fitted.

Councillor Carla Denyer, of the Greens, said her political group had brought a successful budget amendment in 2020 to "train council staff in fitting heat pumps and other sustainable technologies".

"Heat pumps are a fantastic solution to provide low carbon heating, but they do need to be installed carefully by heat pump specialists, with follow-up visits to make sure they're properly calibrated," she said.

Ms Denyer added the city needs a strong local workforce with experience and training "with lots of good quality green jobs... helping to prevent climate change".

Replacing gas boilers in homes with heat pumps helps reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change.

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