Future Ready Fuel campaign

Through the Future Ready Fuel campaign OFTEC advocates for the use of renewable liquid heating fuels as part of a fair and affordable transition to net zero

Campaign background

The threat posed by the climate crisis means we must take action to reduce our carbon emissions. The UK government has set a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and, as part of this transition, the way we heat our homes must change.

It’s vital that there is public support for any changes, and this is most likely to be achieved if solutions are recognised to be fair, affordable and easy to implement. Households and businesses are also more likely to be supportive if they are allowed to choose solutions that best suits their circumstances, rather than be forced to accept a one size fits all solution.

The government’s net zero policy is currently focussed on electric heating as its preferred low carbon solution and is prioritising the deployment of heat pumps. These are highly efficient but are currently significantly more expensive to install than an oil or gas boiler, even with the grants the government has made available. Because of the high cost of electricity, running costs may also be higher, despite a heat pump being significantly more efficient.

While the cost to install heat pumps in suburban homes is expected to gradually fall, rural off-gas grid homes will remain a more difficult challenge. This is due to the way they were built, which can often make the installation of a heat pump more time consuming, disruptive and expensive. In some cases, a heat pump installation may not be cost effective; in others planning constraints may be a limiting factor. While sales are increasing, driven largely by government support, heat pumps are most often a viable choice only for higher income households, and the industry’s reliance on government subsidy remains a concern.

The aims of the Future Ready Fuel campaign

OFTEC argues that to make progress with decarbonisation more quickly, particularly in complex to decarbonise buildings, the government should adopt of a more technology-inclusive policy approach that actively supports all viable solutions.

We are pleased that the government has recognised this and, at the end of 2025 launched a consultation on alternative low carbon technologies, including the use of renewable liquid heating fuels such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).

Through the Future Ready Fuel campaign, we encouraged households to support this option and respond to the consultation. The result was an unprecedented 16,000 supportive responses, which should leave the government in no doubt that the use of renewable liquid fuels has popular support.

Renewable liquid heating fuels should now be supported as part of government decarbonisation policy, alongside heat pumps and other carbon reducing measures. The liquid fuel heating industry has already successfully completed a national demonstration project using HVO and is ready to begin supplying the new fuel to existing oil heating customers, starting with a 20% blend of HVO with kerosene. To ensure the change is affordable, the government needs to make two simple changes:

• Align the duty charged on HVO with kerosene by reducing the duty on HVO to zero when used in heating.
• Implement a renewable heating fuel obligation, similar to the one already in place for the road transport sector, which would require fuel distributors to supply a blend of HVO and kerosene to customers.

These changes would enable the supply of a lower carbon fuel to begin and would cost the Treasury nothing to implement. It would result in an immediate and significant carbon saving for everyone currently using heating oil and would help to ensure that existing carbon reduction targets are achieved.

A further advantage is that because no new heating equipment needs to be installed, households still have the choice to adopt another option if it’s right for them. However, renewable liquid heating fuels could become a final decarbonisation pathway for harder to treat buildings with the blend of renewable fuel increasing gradually over time.

In some circumstances, the use of more than one low carbon technology may be beneficial, such as a boiler fuelled by a low carbon liquid fuel working in tandem with a heat pump. These combinations are commonly known as hybrid systems.

Ensuring the government now acts on the consultation response is the primary focus of the Future Ready Fuel campaign. It’s important we keep the pressure on, and we would welcome your support in encouraging the government to take the right action. Visit the Future Ready Fuel website to find out more about our work and add your voice to our campaign.

(updated March 2026)

Affordable green heating campaign

Campaign to prevent leaks from oil tanks

Preventing oil tank leaks that can lead to pollution is an important priority for OFTEC. It is particularly important to ensure this does not happen in areas where there is a risk to water supplies, or other sensitive sites, becoming contaminated.

OFTEC has collaborated on a trial campaign across Hampshire and West Sussex with partners the Environment Agency (EA) and Portsmouth Water, aimed at addressing this problem.

The campaign has been working with OFTEC registered technicians to encourage householders to check and replace failing tanks.  The trial compared two approaches for engaging customers in ‘source protection zones’ situated over valuable naturally occurring groundwater abstracted for drinking water. It split 500 households into two equal groups. One received a yearly mailshot with a cover letter and leaflet, while the other group received the same leaflet, plus face-to-face advice from an OFTEC registered technician as part of their annual boiler service.  Articles were also run in the parish magazines of both groups. 

Both tactics urged householders to contact Portsmouth Water for a free inspection and/or 50% off a replacement tank should the inspection recommend it. As an incentive, Portsmouth Water subsidise a free inspection and 50% grant towards replacement works in priority locations.

Face to face contact from technicians was the most successful intervention. In all, an impressive 25 tanks were replaced, greatly reducing the risk of water supply contamination, or pollution the local water environment. 

The trial element of the campaign has now ended, but many of the most successful tactics are now being taken up longer term by Portsmouth Water. The learning from the campaign is being shared nationally and it is hoped that other water companies will adopt similar schemes. You can find out more at https://www.cleanwaterpartnership.co.uk/oil-tanks-1

 HVO handbook & Bio-liquid sustainability and environmental standard