As part of efforts to reach net zero by 2040 and fight the ‘existential threat of climate change’, Oxford City Council is on a mission to ban gas hobs and boilers in new homes from 2025.
Local councillor Louise Upton said that the plan will ‘require all new homes and businesses in Oxford to generate enough electricity to cover their needs, to operate without using fossil fuels, and to plant more trees’.
Gas cookers use fossil fuels to function and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Besides the environmental impact, they have also been found to breach air pollution limits in homes and increase the risk of developing health problems such as asthma. One study found that kids in homes with gas stoves, rather than electric ones, are 42 percent more likely to have the respiratory condition. Yikes.
The anti-gas plan is still in its early phases and the council has opened a consultation with the 162,000 strong population of Oxford to help inform the final draft. This will then be submitted to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate before a public inspection takes place. If everything goes through, the ban could start by summer 2025.
The city also has ambitions to bring forward its 2036 ban on oil and gas in new builds.
Going green
With scary forecasts of the impact of the climate crisis (like this AI map), loads of the UK cities are making commitments to tackle global warming. And at Time Out we want let you know exactly what's happening where. Edinburgh has set its sights on becoming Europe’s first ‘plant-based capital’, Hull is set to become the first UK city to give residents a ‘right to grow’ on disused land and in London there’s a race to rewild streets, rivers and parks.
Did you see that this national park has been named the most beautiful in the UK?
Plus: this English road has been named one of the most dangerous in the world.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.