CORNWALL Council is calling for more government support for renewable fuels that could benefit thousands of households with no gas connection.

The council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change Cllr Martyn Alvey has written to energy security and net zero secretary Ed Miliband to highlight the 35,000 homes as well numerous schools and community buildings in Cornwall which are not connected to the mains gas grid.

It means a total of 14 per cent of households in Cornwall rely on costly and high carbon-emitting oil or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for heating.

In his letter, Cllr Alvey says the council has been looking at how alternative fuels might help to accelerate carbon reductions from homes while new infrastructure is put in place.

He praises a pilot project in Kehelland, near Camborne, where 20 households tried out a renewable fuel called Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, or HVO, to replace oil for heating their homes.

The trial was carried out by Scorrier-based fuel supplier Mitchell & Webber and was the first time HVO was systematically tested in Europe.

Due to the success of the pilot and residents’ support of the scheme, Cllr Alvey is now calling on the government to look at more support for alternative renewable fuels for homes unable to connect to the mains gas grid.

Cllr Alvey said: "Cornwall has a much higher proportion of off mains gas homes than other parts of the UK and when combined with our rich heritage, older housing stock and diverse methods and materials used to build Cornish homes this creates a significant but not unachievable challenge for Cornwall in our ambitions to decarbonise our housing stock.

“Some 15 per cent of Cornish households already having a certified renewable energy installation, including solar panels, heat pumps or battery storage which is exceeding national deployment rates and we are keen to explore the role alternative renewable fuels could play in this.

“I would urge the government to fully explore the use of alternative renewable fuels for home heating, including supporting proposed energy bill updates and the use of HVO as a drop in transitional fuel in off mains gas homes and buildings.”

John Weedon, director of Mitchell & Webber, said: “We are extremely pleased that following their visit to Kehelland Cornwall Council have recognised that Cornwall is at the forefront of decarbonising heating systems and this new renewable fuel is an ideal solution to help the properties and buildings on oil heating and which are unable to have another technology.

“It is excellent news that the energy minister has been invited to come and see the Cornish community where the exciting and successful trials all started back in 2020.”

Dave Bigg , a resident at Kehelland, said: “We’ve been using HVO as a direct replacement for kerosene in our old central heating boiler for nearly four years as part of the trial.

“Not only have we eliminated 90 per cent of our CO2 emissions but HVO has proved to be a superior fuel in so many other ways."