Lack of Government Action on Energy Saving results in threat of legal action July 24, 2007
Posted by Mikey B in UK Energy Policy, UK energy, energy.add a comment
Please find below an article from the telegraph about the failure of the UK government to adhere to its own policies and the legal action that may result.
The Government has been threatened with legal action for its failure to promote energy saving in millions of homes as required by an Act passed in 2000.
The threat of judicial review for its failure to comply with an existing law on energy saving is doubly embarrassing because statutory targets for reducing carbon emissions are a key selling-point of the Government’s Climate Change Bill, expected to be introduced this autumn.
Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, last week held a crisis meeting to decide what to do about the legal challenge from the Association for the Conservation of Energy, which says the Government has not delivered on its commitments under the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000.
Its statutory commitment under the Act is to remove every vulnerable household in England belonging to the elderly or infirm from fuel poverty by 2010. Fuel poverty, under the Act, is defined as meaning a household that has to spend more than 10 per cent of disposable income, after housing allowances, on fuel bills to keep warm.According to last month’s Energy White Paper, between 1.5 million and 2.8 million households will still be defined as “fuel poor” in 2010, contrary to the statutory commitments under the Act, under existing budgets and energy-saving programmes.
The same White Paper claims that 2.5 million English households have been removed from fuel poverty over the past decade.
The legal challenge from the association came because it understands that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is considering cutting funds by a third for the flagship Warm Front programme which installs efficient boilers and insulates walls and lofts of inefficient homes.
Studies have shown that improving housing standards is a much more effective long term solution to fuel poverty than subsidising fuel prices to the vulnerable.
The Government’s Fuel Poverty Advisory Group, set up under the Act of 2000, has been warning for years that there are insufficient funds being spent to comply with the statutory duty to tackle fuel poverty for the vulnerable by 2010. But rising fuel prices mean the number of people in fuel poverty has gone up, not down.
Andrew Warren, the director of the association, said: “If these programmes are reduced, we intend to proceed to judicial review. This, we are confident, will lead to the courts requiring the Government to institute sufficiently robust programmes to ensure that the law of the land is adhered to.”
Defra said: “Funding for Warm Front will not be cut this year. As is always the case, funding for future years will be decided in the crossGovernment comprehensive spending review. Major investment is continuing with around £800 million being spent over the 2005-08 period through Warm Front alone.”
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Oil and Gas to run out by 2015 July 23, 2007
Posted by Mikey B in Green Energy, UK Energy Suppliers, UK electricity, UK energy, UK gas, energy.add a comment
One of the key reasons why renewable energy is so important is the ever decreasing levels of gas and oil available within the UK energy market.
Humanity is approaching an unprecedented crisis when not enough oil and gas will be produced to keep industrial civilisation running, the world’s top oilmen warned last week.
The warning – which is being hailed as a “tipping point” on both sides of the Atlantic – marks the first time that the industry has accepted that it may soon no longer be able to meet demand for its products. In Facing the Hard Truths about Energy, it gives authoritative support to concern about impending shortages, following a similar alert by the International Energy Agency less than two weeks ago.
The 420-page report, the most comprehensive study ever carried out into the industry, has been produced by the National Petroleum Council, a body of 175 authorities that reports to the US government. It includes the heads of the world’s big oil companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, Shell and BP.
It is also remarkable for the conversion of its chairman, Lee Raymond, the recently retired chief executive of ExxonMobil, who led opposition against action to tackle global warming, and became environmentalists’ most prominent bogeyman. The report argues for “an effective global framework” to manage emissions of carbon dioxide – “incorporating all major emitters” – and urges the US to cut the pollution that causes climate change.
The report concludes that “the global supply of oil and natural gas from the conventional sources … is unlikely to meet … growth in demand over the next 25 years”. It says that “many observers think that 80 per cent of existing oil production will need to be replaced by 2030″ to keep up present supplies “in addition to volumes required to meet existing demand.” But, it adds, there are “accumulating risks to replacing current production and increasing supplies”.
Though vast amounts of oil and gas remain underground, “complex challenges” and “global uncertainties” are likely to put an end to “the sufficient, reliable and economic energy supplies upon which people depend”. And the crunch could come sooner, with oil production becoming “a significant challenge as early as 2015″. This chimes with the International Energy Agency’s prediction that oil supplies could become “extremely tight” in five years.
The predictions should send a shiver down humanity’s collective spine as a shortage of oil and gas has been predicted to cause industrial collapse, market crashes, resource wars and a rise in poverty. Some forecast that fascist regimes will rise out of the chaos.
Chris Skrebowski, editor of the Energy Institute’s Petroleum Review, said the report’s publication showed the industry “‘fessing up that it really has a problem on its hands”. Until now, he said, “companies, full of share options, have been terrified of frightening the markets” by revealing the truth.
The report says the fuel efficiency of cars should be increased “at the maximum rate possible” and there should be a crackdown on 4×4s. It calls for “aggressive energy efficiency standards for buildings, and measures to “set an effective cost for emitting carbon dioxide” to combat global warming.
Original Article http://www.climateark.org/
If you are interested in renewable energy in the UK or would like to switch you may be interested in energy made fromHydroelectricity or install your own Wind power.
Reduce your power consumption July 18, 2007
Posted by Mikey B in Green Energy, UK Energy Suppliers, UK electricity, UK energy, energy.add a comment
LONDON (Reuters) – Fifteen thousand Britons will soon be able to see how exactly much their electric gadgets are costing them as part of new trials aimed at cutting energy waste and fighting climate change.
The government hopes that if people can see how much energy their big new TVs are wasting while they are in the kitchen using still more power making tea and toast, they might change their behavior.
“Changing consumer habits is vital if we are to cut our energy use and reduce the impact of climate change,” the new Business and Enterprise Secretary, John Hutton, said in a statement.
“Smart meters provide the cutting edge technology to enable this to happen. The results of the trials will provide invaluable evidence to support the future rollout of displays and smart meters; helping to cut consumer bills and cut our carbon emissions.”
Forty thousand homes will be taking part in the energy saving trials, with 8,000 homes being given clip on real time display units for their existing meters and others testing other ways to cut energy waste.
EDF Energy , E.ON UK , Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power are to conduct the trials, with the help of a 10-million pound grant.
Smart meters, whereby customers can see on a small screen how much energy each household appliance is using at any time, are seen as a key tool for cutting energy waste.
“Smart meters have great potential to help customers better understand their energy consumption and encourage energy efficiency,” Alistair Buchanan, the chief executive of UK energy regulator Ofgem, said in a statement.
Google Goes Green July 12, 2007
Posted by Mikey B in Green Energy.add a comment
One thing that always stumps me about energy use is that if I use less it costs me less. Why oh why has big business not fully realised this yet. Some have and starting to move forward to becoming less dependant upon large volumes of energy.
One such case is Google – see http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/clean-energy-update.html.
I am impresssed that an organisation with energy demands as large as Google must do has made the effort to go green and reduce their dependance on energy sources.
UK Legislative Agenda – Energy Policy July 11, 2007
Posted by Mikey B in Green Energy, UK Energy Policy, UK energy, energy.add a comment
Gordon Brown recently took over as Prime Minister in the United Kingdom. On the 11th of July 2007 he released his agenda for the set out his legislative agenda for the parliamentary year. Within this there was a short section on energy.
The Energy Bill will provide greater incentives for renewable energy generation.
BBC News
This is not the largest statement he has ever made on these matters and hardly fills me, as a consumer, with much hope. I wish I knew what the added incentives for Green Energy production were going to be. All it would take is a bit of thought to offer a policy of use to the UK environment and public. This appears as platitudes rather than action, delaying rather than acting and of little or no use to man nor beast. Let’s hope that the ‘Energy Bill’, as and when it arrives, is more useful than Mr Browns speech on the matter.
Energy Watcher July 11, 2007
Posted by Mikey B in Energy Offers, Green Energy, UK Energy Suppliers, UK electricity, UK energy, UK gas, energy.add a comment
Hello and welcome to Energy Watcher.
We thought we should say what we’re planning on doing etc to give you an impression of what we can do for you.
I don’t know about you but I’m fed up with my energy production discussion and constantly annoyed by the lack of effective discussion about it. The discussion never discusses the core things I want information on:
- Where can I get cheaper energy (without someone trying to make a buck)
- What is the cost to the environment by changing supplier
- How can I make my house more energy efficent – without spending a fortune
- Where can I get upto the minute news that isn’t skewed towards specific energy providers
So thats what we hope to do. All thought comments and suggestions greatly appreciated (as long as they’re not spam or laden with affiliate links).
