How are the export and / or import of heat treated within the CRC?
A. The Government has decided that all heat use will be zero rated for emissions. The reason for zero rating heat is to provide an incentive for CRC participants to import heat and so increase the size of the market for the heat in the UK, resulting in an increased potential for CHP and the use of surplus heat (surplus heat is a by-product from power generation and some industrial processes). At present, the UK heat market is relatively under developed. As a result approximately 500TWh per year of surplus heat is disposed into the atmosphere and water courses in the UK. If heat markets were developed such that some of this heat could be used to displace on-site heat generation, it would result in significant carbon savings. The zero rating of heat will mean that all heat use is treated the same for reporting purposes, removing the need for the heat customer to keep documentary evidence on the source of the heat, for instance whether it was generated by burning biomass or gas (as any be
