Welsh homes are amongst the oldest and least efficient in Europe, and a significant number of properties are off the gas grid, which means the scale of change required is greater than elsewhere in the UK. There is also a financial challenge with an estimated 45% of Welsh households in fuel poverty.
The Strategy includes an objective to provide a clear regulatory framework to support net zero homes across all tenures, including the private rented sector and states that every homeowner and landlord will be empowered to make the right choices to decarbonise their homes.
Extreme heat is expected to persist in the Sunbelt, with temperatures that could reach the high 90s and even top 100 degrees Fahrenheit from Nevada and Arizona to Texas and the Gulf South, according to NOAA’s three-month forecast for September, October and November.
Those not dripping sweat in the Sunbelt may dodge rain bombs, pole-snapping winds and floodwaters as more extreme storms track across the eastern half of the country. Wildfire smoke will move outdoor parties indoors. Scorching beach sand and bathtub-warm ocean water won’t offer much relief.
Asphalt has an opposite problem. Triple-digit temperatures can render it soft, experts say, while continuous traffic on an asphalt-paved road can create a “wagon trail” effect that presses tire-track depressions into a highway. Constant pressure causes cracking, which in turn leads to potholes and erosion.
Speaking to reporters about the recent massive wildfires fuelled by the hot and dry conditions in Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, Ms. Nullis highlighted the “many evacuations and much devastation”.
“Unfortunately, that is a picture with which we’ve become all too familiar this summer,” she said.
The WMO Spokesperson also noted that Canada’s record-breaking season was continuing and that it was “completely off the charts” this year. As of 17 August, more than 600 wildfires across the country were out of control, she said.
Even Canada’s far north near the Arctic Circle had not been spared, as a mass evacuation order was in force in the town of Yellowknife in the Northern Territories due to an approaching blaze.
To stimulate the market, the UK boiler upgrade scheme provides grant funding towards low carbon heating solutions, including £5,000 towards an air source heat pump, plus heat pumps are currently VAT exempt. Despite these support mechanisms, the upfront costs of heat pumps are still beyond the means of many people, particularly when coupled with the costs of installing insulation, which is a requirement for the boiler upgrade scheme funding.
The UK Government aims to increase the number of heat pumps installed in the UK each year from 55,000 to 600,000 by 2028. This is expected to reduce the cost of installing a heat pump as efficiencies are made through economies of scale.
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