Green tech will save money but Britons say it is out of reach

David Buttress is CEO of British energy supplier OVO.

There is a culture war on net zero in Britain.

From the alleged weight of electric vehicles to the supposed risk factors of heat pumps, each day brings a new story about the perceived ‘dangers’ of this new technology.

It’s easy to dismiss this scaremongering. But because of this phoney war, Britain risks being left behind on expensive fossil fuels.

A vocal minority continues to rebrand net zero as a luxury we can’t afford. But the reality is without sustainable advances for our homes we will have higher bills for decades to come.

The knock-on effects are also huge. While homes stay cold and inefficient, it costs the National Health Service.

When climate action stalls, the cost is measured in flooded homes, failed harvests, and economic instability.

It is a high price, and one we can no longer afford to pay.

New research from OVO, published in its latest report The Green Home Bonus, finds that eight in 10 households want to decarbonise their homes.

What holds them back are perceptions about cost: seven in 10 households feel that high upfront costs make change impossible and 92% of low-income households say that green technology feels “out of reach”.

We are also facing deep-rooted confusion over what technology is best for individual households, with 64% not knowing which technology to choose. This confusion is the very real impact of the volatile and circular argument that we are witnessing on net zero.

Clear advice for households is also lacking. A 2023 Citizens Advice study found that the absence of information to make informed decisions about green technology for individual homes was one of the biggest causes of inaction.

Going green will save money

But the truth is going green will save you money - a lot of money in the long term. For those who have adopted it, green tech is already paying dividends, quite literally.

OVO’s research shows that individual households could save almost 13,000 pounds ($17,300) by 2035 and over 23,000 pounds by 2040 through making a green switch, compared to what they would otherwise be paying.

This ‘Green Home Bonus’ is ready for the taking. Whilst there is a cost to action, there is an even greater cost to inaction that will hit people’s pockets if they are stranded on fossil fuels.

Homeowners who go green now will save money in multiple ways in the future, from cash savings on bills to an increase in the value of their homes.

There is a huge pool of potential new adopters of green technologies. It’s up to us to give them the encouragement and the upfront funding to be able to do it.

We know that those living in rented homes are struggling to keep up. Around 80% of those surveyed feel as if they are trapped in energy inefficient homes.

There is no incentive for landlords to install what is seen as costly green technology.

The government’s spending review in June was a step in the right direction, funding a new Warm Homes Plan that will improve energy efficiency and bring down bills. But we need to see more.

The government should expand grants, subsidies and low-cost loans to help all households afford insulation and low-carbon heating, turning intention into action.

Means-tested upfront cash incentives can help people to take the first step, and local authorities and social housing providers need funding through Warm Home Grants.

Introducing a new social tariff would ensure it is not only homeowners who benefit from lower bills, and will help to reduce fuel poverty, which we desperately need to tackle.

Electricity is currently four times more expensive than gas, but it doesn’t need to be. Heat pumps could and should be cheaper to run. This could change the calculation for consumers.

A few years ago, there was a broad consensus that driving down Britain’s carbon emissions, so we hit net zero by 2050, was the right thing to do.

It is supported by overwhelming evidence that this is essential to avoid the worst effects of climate change. It opens a huge opportunity for an economy like ours to create the new green jobs of the future and cement a world-leading position in clean tech.

But in truth, high bills and a lack of energy security should be the only evidence that we need to move forward.

Most people do not want a culture war on net zero – they want hard data to inform the choices they make on their household spending.

Most people support action to reduce carbon emissions and want to play their part. It is down to all of us, in industry and government, to empower them to do so.