Report: Gas boilers pose critical threat to UK national security

The heavy gas reliance of UK homes presents a critical threat to the UK’s national security, according to a report from climate think-tank E3G and the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.

The report says around 85% of UK homes are heated by gas, with much of the country’s supply passing through four major import and processing sites. It argues that the concentration of infrastructure leaves the UK vulnerable to disruption.

It also says international gas price shocks have driven up household energy bills and that more North Sea production would not protect consumers because prices are set on global markets.

Meanwhile, rising energy costs have hit lower-income households hardest, increasing financial pressure and weakening public confidence.

The top recommendations of the report are for the government to:

1. Launch a national “Home Front Mission” to accelerate electrification of UK homes and establish a plan to phase out oil and gas for home heating.
2. Prioritise a more strategically decentralised, more secure energy system at pace.
3. Prioritise diversification of supply chains for clean energy technologies and develop incentives to maximise UK clean tech manufacturing.
4. Identify gas dependence as a security threat and classify it as a “chronic risk” in the National Risk Register.
5. Government and Joint Intelligence Committee to launch a joint inquiry into action by hostile states, malign actors and special interest lobbyists to spread disinformation regarding clean energy.

Leo Vincent, lead report author & a Senior Policy Advisor for E3G:

“Displacing gas as the predominant means of home heating is a national security imperative. Fossil fuel infrastructure is significantly more vulnerable to attack than a decentralised, electrified energy system. Turning to our terminally depleted North Seas oil and gas reserves is a security gamble we’d be sure to lose. As a nation, we must act fast to strengthen our home front resilience”.

Faith Hammond, report author & a senior policy advisor for E3G:

“The UK housing stock’s overreliance on gas for home heating represents a severe macro-economic threat and leaves households financially vulnerable. Each time geopolitical tensions escalate abroad and gas prices spike, British households are left footing the bill. Price shocks don’t stop at skyrocketing energy bills, they ripple through the economy threatening mortgage portfolios, insurance markets, and damaging economic growth.”

The full report can be found here.