Public awareness of and attitudes to low-carbon heating technologies: an evidence review

Abstract

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2019 commits Scotland to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero of the 1990 baseline by 2045. Emissions from buildings account for around 20% of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions1. Achieving Scotland’s emission reduction targets is therefore likely to require changes to the heating and hot water systems of nearly all homes and non-domestic buildings. Deployment of low-carbon and renewable heating needs to increase significantly to meet our net-zero targets. To inform this transition, this evidence review set out to understand Scottish consumers’ awareness of and attitudes towards low-carbon heating technologies and the consumer drivers and barriers to their take-up.