Ariane Burgess, the local Scottish Green MSP for the Highlands & Islands region has urged people across the Highlands and Islands to take advantage of the support on offer to get new clean heating for their home.
It comes as the Scottish Green co-leader and Minister Patrick Harvie has launched consultation proposals for the Scottish Government’s new Heat in Buildings Bill.
The proposals focus on improving the energy efficiency of our homes and changing to clean heating systems.
Both of these are critical to hitting our climate targets and building a fairer, greener Scotland.
Around one fifth of all of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions come from our buildings.
Scotland offers the most generous package of support anywhere in the UK: a £7,500 grant for switching to a heat pump or other clean heating, with £9,000 for rural homes; and similar help available for households undertaking energy efficiency work.
Ariane Burgess MSP said:
“The energy market is broken, and so many people in the Highlands & Islands are being hit by astronomical bills.
“We need to break the link between the cost of gas and what we are paying to heat our homes.
“Part of the solution is better insulation, but, for many of us, there are grants available that can help us move to low-carbon alternatives which can mean cleaner, greener and warmer homes that don’t cost the earth to heat.
“Heat pumps have a big role to play – a tried, tested and reliable technology which is decades-old, highly efficient and already installed in thousands of Scottish homes and used by millions of people across Europe.
“We need to transform the way we heat our homes.
“With generous grants available, I hope that households and families in the Highlands & Islands consider making the switch to clean energy technology and that our community can be at the forefront of the change.”
