According to a recent report, Scotland will fall "significantly short" of its goal to decarbonize home heating.
A quicker adoption of heat pumps, according to environmental activists WWF Scotland, could reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
The fourth-largest source of emissions is home heating.
The government's strategy, according to Minister of Zero Carbon Buildings Patrick Harvie, sets a very ambitious goal to reduce carbon in all of Scotland's homes.
Scotland has promised to stop contributing to climate change by the year 2045, making it net zero.
The Scottish government intends to do away with fossil fuel heating in more than a million homes by 2030 as part of that goal.
Additionally, it has promised that by 2032, all residences will adhere to band C energy performance certificate standards.
In order to meet the goal, a large portion of the work will involve switching to heat pumps or other zero emission options from fossil fuel heating systems like gas or oil-fired boilers.
According to the WWF report, a quicker adoption of heat pumps could also result in lower energy costs for most Scottish households.
A heat pump installation, however, can cost up to £12,000.
The Scottish and UK governments are urged by WWF to increase funding and shorten deadlines for the implementation of gas and oil-free central heating alternatives.
We rely on gas to heat our homes because it has long been a convenient and affordable way to stay warm.
However, each of those tiny combi boilers is producing carbon dioxide, which together with some homes heated by oil, is responsible for about 15% of Scotland's overall emissions.
That is more than what power plants and the entire energy supply industry emit.
The quickest method of heating a home is a heat pump, but they are expensive, starting at about £12,000 per household but falling to £4,500 with government subsidies.
Even though prices are dropping, many still find them to be prohibitively expensive, and operating them still costs a lot of money because they use a lot of the currently pricey electricity.
While the cost to the consumer is falling and becoming greener, the power sector is not, and changing that is likely to be a game-changer for the adoption of heat pumps.
Energy policy manager for WWF Scotland, Fabrice Leveque, stated: "Our reliance on gas and oil boilers is raising our energy costs and causing harmful carbon pollution.
"We can use electric heat pumps to harness Scotland's renewable energy powerhouse to heat our homes. ".
According to the report, the removal of so-called "green levies," costs associated with UK government policy, from bills has reduced the cost of operating heat pumps.
However, it asserts that further reform of the electricity market is necessary because gas, which remains the most expensive energy source in use, still determines the price.
It concludes that switching to heat pumps would significantly reduce energy costs for the majority of homes with oil or electric heating, though people in modern tenement apartments with gas heating would see costs rise by as much as 23%.
An electrically powered device called a heat pump extracts heat from the air, ground, or water surrounding a structure.
In order to create heat, air-source pumps, for instance, draw in outdoor air and pass it over tubes that contain refrigerant fluids.
By 2028, the UK government wants to install 600,000 heat pumps annually.
However, less than 50,000 heat pumps are currently installed in British homes each year, and the UK ranks last in Europe for heat pump installation.
Decarbonizing home heating, according to Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, an independent group that advises governments on policy, is an essential first step in achieving climate targets.
The Scottish government has ambitious plans to decarbonize the economy, but there hasn't been enough movement in that direction to date, according to him.
This study demonstrates that cleaning up home heating is both feasible and desirable, even though it will require a sizeable investment. ".
According to Scottish government minister Patrick Harvie, this decade will make or break efforts to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency.
He claimed that he had been working to support and hasten the delivery of zero and low emission heating systems ever since the Heat in Buildings Strategy was published.
Mr. Harvie added, "I also look forward to seeking input on our plans for regulation to hasten the installation of green heating and higher energy efficiency standards in Scotland's homes and buildings during consultations on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill in the coming months.
