A new report cautions that Scotland will fall "significantly short" of its goal for decarbonizing home heating.
Environmental activists WWF Scotland claimed that a quicker adoption of heat pumps could reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
Fourth-largest contributor to emissions is home heating.
The government's strategy for reducing carbon across Scotland's homes, according to Minister of Zero Carbon Buildings Patrick Harvie, sets a very lofty goal.
Scotland has committed to reaching net zero by 2045, which means that by then, its contribution to climate change will have come to an end.
By 2030, the Scottish government hopes to have more than a million homes completely free of fossil fuel heating.
Furthermore, it has promised that by the year 2032, all houses will conform to band C energy performance certificate standards.
Replacing fossil fuel heating, such as gas or oil-fired boilers, with heat pumps or other zero emission options will take up a significant portion of the work necessary to meet the goal.
According to the WWF report, the majority of Scottish homes could experience lower energy bills if heat pumps were deployed more quickly.
The price to install a heat pump, however, can reach £12,000.
For the rollout of alternatives to gas and oil-fired central heating, WWF urges the Scottish and UK governments to increase funding and shorten the deadlines.
We are dependent on gas, which has historically been a cheap and convenient way to heat our homes.
However, every single one of those tiny combi boilers emits carbon dioxide, which together with a small number of oil-heated homes accounts for about 15% of Scotland's overall emissions.
That exceeds the emissions from power plants and the entire energy supply industry combined.
Although they start at about £12,000 per household and can be as low as £4,500 with government grants, heat pumps are the fastest method of heating a home.
Even though prices are dropping, many still find them to be prohibitively expensive to buy and run, requiring large amounts of the currently pricey electricity.
While the cost to the consumer is decreasing and going greener, the cost to the power sector is not; changing this will probably fundamentally alter the adoption of heat pumps.
Our reliance on gas and oil boilers is raising our energy costs and causing harmful carbon pollution, according to Fabrice Leveque, energy policy manager at WWF Scotland.
"We can use electric heat pumps to harness Scotland's prowess in renewable energy to warm our homes. ".
According to the study, the cost of operating heat pumps has decreased as a result of the UK government's decision to remove so-called "green levies" from bills.
The price of electricity is still determined by the most expensive energy source being used, namely gas, so it is claimed that further reform of the electricity market is necessary.
According to the study's findings, switching to heat pumps would significantly reduce energy costs for the majority of households currently using oil or electric heating, but people who currently use gas heating in modern tenement apartments would experience a 23 percent increase in costs.
A heat pump is an electrically powered tool that pulls heat from the surrounding air, ground, or water.
For instance, air-source pumps draw air from the outside and circulate it over tubes that contain refrigerant fluids to create heat.
By 2028, the UK government wants to see 600,000 new heat pump installations annually.
The UK, however, ranks last in Europe for heat pump installation with fewer than 50,000 heat pumps installed in British homes each year.
Decarbonizing home heating is a crucial step in achieving climate targets, according to Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, an independent organization that advises governments on policy.
The Scottish government has ambitious plans to decarbonize the economy, but there hasn't been enough progress to make these plans a reality, he claimed.
"This research demonstrates that it is feasible and desirable to invest significantly in cleaning up home heating. ".
Patrick Harvie, a minister in the Scottish government, acknowledged that action on reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency needed to be taken in this decade.
He claimed that since the publication of the Heat in Buildings Strategy, he has been working to promote and hasten the delivery of heating systems with zero and low emissions.
"I also look forward to seeking input on our plans for regulation to hasten the installation of green heating and higher energy efficiency standards in Scotland's homes and buildings," Mr. Harvie said. "I also look forward to consulting on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill in the coming months."
