Homeowners marketing a three bedroom property will need a Hip, including Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), from September 10, the communities department confirmed today.
Through EPCs, each home is given an energy efficiency assessment, modelled on the A-G rating applied to consumer goods such as fridges.
The government hopes this will encourage homeowners to improve their home's energy efficiency, working to reduce bills and cut carbon emissions.
To help homeowners the communities department has made available 'green grants' of up to £300 to fund improvements such as insulation.
full article
Friday, 17 August 2007
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Persuading Britons to cut back on flying will be an uphill struggle
A FIELD next to Heathrow—the world's busiest international airport—does not seem an appealing place for a spot of camping. The roar of jet engines is ever-present, and the only significant landmark is the airport's new control tower. Yet on August 12th dozens of people gamely began erecting tents. They were not there to admire the scenery: this was the Camp for Climate Action, and they had come to protest against aviation and its contribution to global warming.
The camp illustrates just what a nightmare climate change has become for those who are charged with putting the aviation industry's best public-relations foot forward. Defenders of the business argue that aeroplanes are being unfairly singled out for criticism. Air travel is thought to account for just 6.3% of Britain's greenhouse-gas emissions, compared with around 20% for road transport and 37% for power generation. But high-altitude carbon emissions are reckoned to be more damaging than low-level ones, although nobody is sure by exactly how much. Airlines are exempt from emissions laws now and pay no fuel tax, and whereas demand for cars and electricity is predicted to grow only slowly, demand for flying is forecast to rise hugely over the coming decades.
Britons do seem to regard climate change as a problem, but there is little appetite for big lifestyle changes. One recent poll by Ipsos MORI found that most respondents were doing nothing to reduce their carbon emissions. In another survey, for the Sunday Times, 70% of people reckoned that greenery would drop right down the political agenda if economic growth stalled.
full article
The camp illustrates just what a nightmare climate change has become for those who are charged with putting the aviation industry's best public-relations foot forward. Defenders of the business argue that aeroplanes are being unfairly singled out for criticism. Air travel is thought to account for just 6.3% of Britain's greenhouse-gas emissions, compared with around 20% for road transport and 37% for power generation. But high-altitude carbon emissions are reckoned to be more damaging than low-level ones, although nobody is sure by exactly how much. Airlines are exempt from emissions laws now and pay no fuel tax, and whereas demand for cars and electricity is predicted to grow only slowly, demand for flying is forecast to rise hugely over the coming decades.
Britons do seem to regard climate change as a problem, but there is little appetite for big lifestyle changes. One recent poll by Ipsos MORI found that most respondents were doing nothing to reduce their carbon emissions. In another survey, for the Sunday Times, 70% of people reckoned that greenery would drop right down the political agenda if economic growth stalled.
full article
Wednesday, 15 August 2007
Pulling the plug on wasting water
Some consumers simply don't understand the environmental impact of their water usage.
A report by the Earth Policy Institute last year revealed that we consumed 154bn litres of bottled water a year, 25% of which was imported.
Nor do consumers fully appreciate the costs and technological challenges of providing and maintaining water supply and treatment infrastructures.
Regulatory changes are an important requirement in promoting a more responsible attitude towards water usage, but perhaps the greatest progress will result from greater acceptance of the concept of water reuse, particularly by Western consumers.
Huge advances are being made in water treatment by chemical engineers across the world. But ironically, it is currently cheaper to use treated water for non-drinking purposes, such as washing vehicles or watering our gardens, than to introduce methods that use alternative sources. This has to change.
Charging for water usage will not only help provide the funding we need to take these technologies forward, but will also help to instil a sense of responsibility among consumers.
Although, in the UK, we currently pay our water companies for our supplies, the majority of consumers do not think twice about the actual volumes of water they're using, or indeed, wasting.
Inevitably there will be opposition. Asking people to pay more for their water supplies will not be popular, but it is essential.
The word supplies is a key one. This is not about asking people to pay more for water per se, it is about asking people to pay for the water they use.
Appropriate pricing for water use will encourage consumers to take a more sensible and considered approach to water consumption and help us to reinforce the crucial three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle.
This maxim underpins sustainable chemical engineering in the 21st Century and features heavily in our Jubilee report, which celebrates 50 years of IChemE's chartered status.
full article
A report by the Earth Policy Institute last year revealed that we consumed 154bn litres of bottled water a year, 25% of which was imported.
Nor do consumers fully appreciate the costs and technological challenges of providing and maintaining water supply and treatment infrastructures.
Regulatory changes are an important requirement in promoting a more responsible attitude towards water usage, but perhaps the greatest progress will result from greater acceptance of the concept of water reuse, particularly by Western consumers.
Huge advances are being made in water treatment by chemical engineers across the world. But ironically, it is currently cheaper to use treated water for non-drinking purposes, such as washing vehicles or watering our gardens, than to introduce methods that use alternative sources. This has to change.
Charging for water usage will not only help provide the funding we need to take these technologies forward, but will also help to instil a sense of responsibility among consumers.
Although, in the UK, we currently pay our water companies for our supplies, the majority of consumers do not think twice about the actual volumes of water they're using, or indeed, wasting.
Inevitably there will be opposition. Asking people to pay more for their water supplies will not be popular, but it is essential.
The word supplies is a key one. This is not about asking people to pay more for water per se, it is about asking people to pay for the water they use.
Appropriate pricing for water use will encourage consumers to take a more sensible and considered approach to water consumption and help us to reinforce the crucial three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle.
This maxim underpins sustainable chemical engineering in the 21st Century and features heavily in our Jubilee report, which celebrates 50 years of IChemE's chartered status.
full article
Paper battery offers future power
Flexible paper batteries could meet the energy demands of the next generation of gadgets, says a team of researchers.
They have produced a sample slightly larger than a postage stamp that can release about 2.3 volts, enough to illuminate a small light.
But the ambition is to produce reams of paper that could one day power a car.
"The devices we're making are only a few inches across. We would have to scale up to sheets of newspaper size to make it commercially viable," he said. But at that scale, the voltage could be large enough to power a car, he said.
However, carbon nanotubes are very expensive, and batteries large enough to power a car are unlikely to be cost effective.
"I'm a strong enthusiast of electric vehicles, but it is going to take time to bring the costs down," said Professor Sperling.
But Professor Linhardt said integrated devices, like the paper battery, were the direction the world was moving.
"They are ultimately easier to manufacture, more environmentally friendly and usable in a wide range of devices," he said.
The ambition is to produce the paper battery using a newspaper-type roller printer.
full article
They have produced a sample slightly larger than a postage stamp that can release about 2.3 volts, enough to illuminate a small light.
But the ambition is to produce reams of paper that could one day power a car.
"The devices we're making are only a few inches across. We would have to scale up to sheets of newspaper size to make it commercially viable," he said. But at that scale, the voltage could be large enough to power a car, he said.
However, carbon nanotubes are very expensive, and batteries large enough to power a car are unlikely to be cost effective.
"I'm a strong enthusiast of electric vehicles, but it is going to take time to bring the costs down," said Professor Sperling.
But Professor Linhardt said integrated devices, like the paper battery, were the direction the world was moving.
"They are ultimately easier to manufacture, more environmentally friendly and usable in a wide range of devices," he said.
The ambition is to produce the paper battery using a newspaper-type roller printer.
full article
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