On: Solar panels disguised as terracotta tiles in Pomp...

[pjc50]

Usually means "passivehaus", and "energy neutral" would mean "generates an equal quantity of electricity to that consumed, when summed over the year".

> heat yourself with kerosene

That's not energy neutral, is it now, unless you have a kerosene well on the property.

[hgomersall → pjc50]

Precisely - for a smallish 120sqm house the passivhaus heat demand is 1800kWh. 3000kWh is not unreasonable for additional electricity consumption. With a heat pump that heat demand should pessimistically translate into <1000kWh electricity, giving us a total energy usage of ~4000kWh. That's about what a medium size (~20sqm) south-facing roof-mounted PV installation would achieve in the south of the UK.

[graphe → pjc50]

Geothermal energy would be amazing! But it's hard to balance with carbon emissions.