RHI 'is important to UK air quality'

The government's Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is going to play a vital role in improving the UK's air quality statistics.

This is the view of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), which believes the initiative will save the country 4.4 million tonnes of carbon per year between now and 2020 - the equivalent output of two new gas power stations.

A spokesperson for the organisation said the £860 million project could eventually encourage green investment of £7.5 billion by this point.

Details of the RHI were unveiled by DECC in March this year and its primary goal is to fund the installation of equipment that will enable more renewable sources of energy to be used for heating purposes.

"The RHI [will] help [to] strengthen security of supply by reducing our dependence on fossil fuel heating, the scheme has an important part to play in reducing the UK's emissions," the representative added.

Posted by Claire Manning