Electric heating systems exist now and must be rolled out, says new E.On boss

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Electric heating systems such as heat pumps “exist now” and need to be installed rather than waiting for other solutions which are unproven, the new boss of E.On has said. Chris Norbury, who leads the energy company in the UK, said that it was important to “have an open mind” to all technologies which can heat homes without producing carbon emissions. “Therefore, for us, our focus is very much on the opportunity we have in front of us now to decarbonise heating, to make energy more affordable, through a greater degree of electrification.” He added: “Addressing the climate crisis is not something that can wait 10 years.” The words came in response to a question about the at times heated debate between advocates of heat pumps – a way of heating your home with electricity – and those who think that hydrogen, a gas, should be burnt in homes to heat them. Those who oppose the use of hydrogen point to the fact that the technology is unproven at scale, that most hydrogen is produced from natural gas so still emits a lot of carbon, and that producing hydrogen in an environmentally friendly way requires many times more electricity than just using that electricity directly to heat homes.