The U.K. government on Tuesday introduced new rules requiring developers to install heat pumps and solar panels in all new homes across England, in policymakers’ latest response to the economic fallout of the Iran conflict.
U.K. ministers say the Iran war and the largest supply disruption in the history of the oil market reinforces the need to leverage clean power as an energy security tool.
The Future Homes Standard — a set of new-build regulations for England from 2028 — will establish requirements to ensure homes are built with on-site renewable electricity generation, the majority of which is expected to be provided by solar power.
The rules will also see homes built with low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps and heat networks.
The government added that plug-in solar panels, which homeowners can install on balconies, would be available within shops over the coming months.
You would THINK all of the most xenophobic people on this planet would be more than gung ho about eliminating our dependency on other countries and their resources, but apparently not so much. Probably because they know they can start a war and make even more money.
Every damn time there is a global oil shock the right wing voters are shocked and outraged that US prices go up too. They think the US should somehow be immune because we are net exporters. They don’t get that it’s the oil companies that are the net exporters, not the US populace.
It’s about more than dependency. The petrodollar is key to US/Western hegemony. Unless renewables can give the US/West a similar assymmetric advantage over the rest of the world, the ruling class here is going to hesitate to embrace it.
US hegemony is partly based on the petrodollar and they work hard to keep other countries hooked. The Euro is partly meant to reduce European dependence on the USD. It is a lot more complex then US = Western in this case.