Electric heat pumps, a key element of the UK government’s plan to reach its net-zero climate target, may not be able to “heat homes adequately” if the homes are not sufficiently insulated, a parliamentary committee has suggested. The UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) projects that by 2050 all heating in British homes will be provided by low-carbon sources, of which 52 percent will be heat pumps. In November 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to install 600,000 heat pumps every year by 2028. But in its latest report (pdf) published on Feb. 3, the Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee of the House of Commons admitted there are some potential problems with the plan to replace existing gas boilers with heat pumps. “Evidence was clear that for low carbon heating installations to work effectively and to heat homes adequately, properties need to be upgraded to the correct levels …