Cutting emissions from UK home heating

LONDON: On an industrial estate west of London, an army of plumbers is training to advance the British government’s plan to wean households off their dependence on climate-warming natural gas.

Octopus Energy Ltd, backed by Al Gore’s sustainability fund, is helping teach the plumbers to install heat pumps that will play a pivotal role in the UK’s strategy to have net-zero emissions by 2050. The government’s heat and buildings plan, which includes subsidies for households, is expected to be unveiled in the coming days with the backdrop of an energy crisis that’s adding urgency to the transition away from fossil fuels.