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Gas hobs in your kitchen 'to be banned within six years’ to meet emission targets

<em>Gas hobs could be banned from UK kitchens within the next six years (Pixabay)</em>
Gas hobs could be banned from UK kitchens within the next six years (Pixabay)

Kitchens across Britain could look very different over the next few years after ministers were told that gas cookers should be banned.

A report from the Committee on Climate Change says that developers should be forced to install low-carbon heating systems so that Britain’s legally binding emissions targets can be met.

This would mean that newly-built homes would not be able to have gas boilers or stoves fitted, stopping them being connected to the gas grid.

The committee accepted that low-carbon heating systems and extra insulation would add up to £5,000 to the cost of a new home, which would also take longer to heat up.

But they insist that the gas ban in new homes needs to be enforced ‘by 2025 at the latest’ to cut 14% of total UK greenhouse emissions caused by household energy use.

<em>Ministers have been told the ban needs to be introduced so the UK can meet legally binding emissions targets (Flickr)</em>
Ministers have been told the ban needs to be introduced so the UK can meet legally binding emissions targets (Flickr)

The Home Builders Federation condemned the proposal, arguing that it would make houses harder to sell.

A spokesman told The Times: “Builders need to sell homes and so alternative energy sources have to be attractive to consumers and commercially viable.

‘Gas boiler systems are currently the most attractive option for consumers and so are what builders tend to install, and limitations remain with the alternatives available.

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‘It must be ensured that alternatives are suitably attractive, available and efficient before withdrawing existing options.’

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that it would ‘carefully consider the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendations’.

Britain is committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050, as part of the Climate Change Act 2008.