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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I, and a team of others across are updating our global heat pump policy toolkit. We would love to know if you think there are any super cool/novel policy and technology examples that we should include in the new version. Please reach out!

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

But, as explained in the piece, the growth of cooling demand and further falls in the price of electricity could be an important market driver.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Very pleased to have been featured in this detailed article on the UK's heat pump market and why growth for this year is looking sluggish, primarily the cut of the Energy Company Obligation Scheme and no replacement yet. www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/aa87389...

telegraph.co.uk

Why hotter weather could save Britain’s failed heat pump revolution

Devices that can provide hot water, heating and cooling all in one may prove popular, say experts

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I had a long chat with Ben Cooke at The Times last week (while I had my feet in the sea) and have to say I think this piece which combines consumer advice and market offering for passive and active cooling options is extremely neat: www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...

thetimes.com

Air con: the best units to buy and how much they cost to run

Britain faces its third heatwave in six weeks — and many homes are ill-equipped to cope. We look at the pros and cons of installing air conditioning

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

A leaked version of the EU’s electrification action plan suggests that new policy measures to boost electrification will halve oil imports and cut gas imports by two thirds by 2040! The leak contains plans for a potential Clean Heat Market Mechanism www.contexte.com/eu/news/ener...

contexte.com

[Electricity] Leak - Heating and cooling covered in electrification action plan - Contexte

Deep information.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Air con is not banned. Here I try and cut through the nonsense and explore the regulatory detail around new builds and planning permission for air con retrofit - both of which could be reformed to further support air con. www.linkedin.com/pulse/air-co...

linkedin.com

Air conditioning is not banned. But policy reform is needed.

Last week on Radio 4's PM programme, Evan Davis rightly said, "There is no ban on air conditioning," and that is totally true. There is no ban on air conditioning in the UK.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Really looking forward to our joint Clean Heat Forum/Swedish Embassy 'Building Decarbonisation Forum' event next week (25th) at London Climate Action Week. Spaces still left londonclimateactionweek.org/event/buildi...

londonclimateactionweek.org

Events - London Climate Action Week

Discover climate summits, forums, workshops, and more during London Climate Action Week — a city-wide celebration of climate action and awareness.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Please just read the piece FFS. Literally did a radio interview last week saying I was considering cooling in my own house.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

It's stupid takes like this, which led me to write the piece. And clearly you don't know 'this person'.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I am so looking forward to this joint 'Building Decarbonisation Forum' event at London Climate Action week on the 25th June, a collaborative effort between the Embassy of Sweden in the United Kingdom, the Swedish Energy Agency and the Clean Heat Forum. events.business-sweden.com/events/ce15d...

events.business-sweden.com

Building Decarbonisation Forum | London Climate Action Week 2026

From Insights and Innovation to Impact - Shaping the Future of Heating and Cooling in a New Energy LandscapeJoin the Embassy of Sweden, the Swedish Energy Agency, Business Sweden, Sustainable Heating ...

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

A few thoughts from me on this populist sillyness about air con (not) being banned in new builds and why it's perfectly reasonable and sensible to focus on fabric measures first to reduce overheating. Air conditioning alone will never keep Britain cool www.lbc.co.uk/article/air-...

lbc.co.uk

Air conditioning alone will never keep Britain cool | LBC

The Tories' promise to overturn a 'ban' on air conditioning in new homes doesn't tell the whole story, writes energy expert Dr Richard Lowes

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I spoke to Times Radio on Sunday about the heat wave and what energy technology combinations might make sense (heat pumps and solar). Mitigation and adaptation in one.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Yes we should. And we must adapt.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Citizens and governments are recognising the economic and security value of heat pumps. Has taken some time but good to see the European market doubling in size in a decade. It's a miracle that they slash emissions too. www.ft.com/content/571e... via @FT

ft.com

Heat pump sales jump as consumers recoil at high fossil fuel prices

High demand for units in Europe suggests green technologies benefiting from energy price surge due to Iran war

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

If policy makers and businesses get this right, we can see multiple benefits including cleaner cooling, cheaper bills and democratized energy access.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

With the fastest growing developing economies typically in warmer places, a further warming world and growing expectations for health and comfort are leading to rapid cooling growth.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Really nice to be briefly featured in Forbes on the topic of cooling, via @ninaseega.bsky.social, where I point out the scope for major innovation is possible - and it seems likely! www.forbes.com/sites/ninase...

forbes.com

Who Will Pay To Cool The Planet?

Cooling demand is accelerating worldwide, creating a major energy challenge and a critical opportunity to scale innovative, low‑carbon solutions through better finance.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

But @louisesunderland.bsky.social nails it on the head in the Guardian: 'these reforms will only be as effective as their implementation'. (3/3)

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Notable for heating are proposals to use tax law to ensure electricity is reasonably priced compared to fossil fuels, deliver an electrification target and to consider an EU wide market mechanism for heat pumps. (2/3)

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Today's AccelerateEU communication from the European Commission explains how the existing EU energy policy mix will be further bolstered to drive electrification in order to reduce fossil fuel exposure. (1/3)

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Also good to hear the idea of moving existing nuclear and renewable generators (under the renewables obligation scheme) onto fixed price contracts is back. (2/2) www.gov.uk/government/n...

gov.uk

Decisive action to break influence of gas on electricity prices

Families across the country will be better protected from energy crises, as government moves to break link between gas and electricity prices.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

UK government to increase heat pump grants to £9000 for those with oil and LPG heating. Generous for sure but fully closes the risk of a cost gap and may even provide a small excess for those with small homes (typically the least well off). (1/2)

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

But oil heating is highly polluting, smelly and a faff. This is a subsidy for this market. Oil heating is also not needed. The graph above shows Sweden's journey away from oil heating.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

The UK government has just announced targeted financial support for households with oil heating, probably justified. Kerosene prices have been particularly impacted by the Middle East conflict.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

I'd just add that the current electricity market set-up would give a lot of this value to investors rather than bill payers/voters. So we should progress and we should rip up the power market at the same time to ensure people see the benefits. www.theccc.org.uk/publication/...

theccc.org.uk

Supplementary analysis of the Seventh Carbon Budget - Climate Change Committee

This report, complementing the Committee’s advice on the UK’s Seventh Carbon Budget, tests the Committee’s cost and energy…

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) has also come out quite loudly in support pointing to continued exposure to fossil fuel imports and the investment and growth opportunity. www.cbi.org.uk/media-centre...

cbi.org.uk

CBI responds to Climate Change Committee report on cost of net zero | CBI

CBI responds to Climate Change Committee report on cost of net zero

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

I'd point out, that these benefits also last WAY beyond 2050 of course. It's an upfront investment for a very long term benefit all the way towards 2100.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Further still, this ignores all of the benefits that a cleaner energy system brings like health benefits, overall system efficiency due to electrification and lower running costs - in addition to the benefit of reducing climate emissions.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Analysis published today by the UK Climate Change Committee shows that decarbonising the UK by 2050 would cost less than than keeping the system as is if just one 2022 style price shock happened again. This analysis took place before the current price shock by the way.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

I explored the energy security value of clean heating in this piece for the Royal United Services Institute in 2024. That contains the details of what I have just described. The grid has since cleaned up further using even less gas, and batteries and solar are now even cheaper.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Meanwhile, as the UK electricity system sees less and less gas used for power generation, the gas demand reduction associated with heat pumps is further increased. And adding solar photovoltaics to the building can knock off another 25% off the remaining gas use.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

And as the terminal decline of the UK's continental oil and gas reserves continues, the exposure to imports increases. Forecasts see very limited UK gas production by 2040, even if we increase drilling.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Every new building connected to the gas grid (yes this still happens) is reliant on imported gas, gas that as we have seen over recent days is highly volatile in price and increasingly insecure.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Switching a home heated by gas to a heat pump reduces the fossil gas used by that home by over 75%. No other technology gets close to such a big gas demand reduction.

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

The US, Russia and Iran were responsible for 40% of global gas exports in 2024 and Liquefied ‘Natural’ Gas (LNG), has become one of the key price setters in this market. The biggest exporters of LNG are the US, Qatar and Australia. www.linkedin.com/posts/richar...

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Despite the noise from interest groups, experts know that heat pumps can bring down bills especially when combined with solar, heat pump tarriffs and batteries. That's as well as slashing emissions and imports. www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-wh...

carbonbrief.org

Factcheck: What it really costs to heat a home in the UK with a heat pump - Carbon Brief

This factcheck explains how heat pumps can cut bills, what the latest data shows about potential savings

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

The Warm Homes Plan is out. Some thoughts: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

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Richard Lowes @richardlowes.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

France, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan, Italy and Germany all stand out to me. All countries which need to rapidly increase renewable generation and electrify end uses.

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