Customers who use prepayment meters to buy their gas and electricity are being charged up to £328 a year more than those with online tariffs who pay by direct debit, the energy watchdog said today.
Some energy providers, including EDF Energy, have started to charge prepayment customers the same as those on standard tariffs, but all of the big six energy firms offer their lowest rates to those who manage their accounts online and pay by direct debit.
Energywatch said that on average, prepayment energy customers were paying £255 more than those with an online direct debit tariff.
The watchdog said the price difference was "scandalous" and penalised poorer families and pensioners who often have no choice but to pay by meter.
It called on energy firms to end discriminatory pricing.
The biggest differential was between tariffs at British Gas, where prepayment meter customers pay an average of £1,127 while dual fuel customers who operate their accounts online and use direct debit pay just £795.
by Hilary Osborne
full article
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
MPs call for rise in green taxes
The UK Treasury has "continually demonstrated a lack of ambition and imagination" when it comes to green taxes, a report by MPs has concluded.
The Commons Environmental Audit Committee says there is little sign that ministers have acted on the recommendations of the Stern Review.
They also call for a rise in air taxes, especially on long-haul flights.
Failure to act would undermine the government's environmental credibility, warned the MPs.
The committee of 16 MPs said green taxes, as a proportion of all taxes, has declined from its peak of 9.7% in 1999 to 7.6% in 2006.
full article
The Commons Environmental Audit Committee says there is little sign that ministers have acted on the recommendations of the Stern Review.
They also call for a rise in air taxes, especially on long-haul flights.
Failure to act would undermine the government's environmental credibility, warned the MPs.
The committee of 16 MPs said green taxes, as a proportion of all taxes, has declined from its peak of 9.7% in 1999 to 7.6% in 2006.
full article
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Fuel Cells Make Power for Homes in Japan
The technology — which draws energy from the chemical reaction when hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water — is more commonly seen in futuristic cars with tanks of hydrogen instead of gasoline, whose combustion is a key culprit in pollution and global warming.
Developers say fuel cells for homes produce one-third less of the pollution that causes global warming than conventional electricity generation does.
"I was a bit worried in the beginning whether it was going to inconvenience my family or I wouldn't be able to take a bath," said the 45-year-old Japanese businessman, who lives with his wife, Tomoko, and two children, 12 and 9. But, as head of a construction company, he was naturally interested in new technology for homes.
Tomoko Naruse, 40, initially worried the thing would explode, given all she had heard about the dangers of hydrogen.
"Actually, you forget it's even there," her husband said.
Their plain gray fuel cell is about the size of a suitcase and sits just outside their door next to a tank that turns out to be a water heater. In the process of producing electricity, the fuel cell gives off enough warmth to heat water for the home.
The oxygen that the fuel cell uses comes from the air. The hydrogen is extracted from natural gas by a device called a reformer in the same box as the fuel cell. But a byproduct of that process is poisonous carbon monoxide. So another machine in the gray box adds oxygen to the carbon monoxide to create carbon dioxide, which — though it contributes to global warming — is not poisonous.
The entire process produces less greenhouse gas per watt than traditional generation. And no energy is wasted transporting the electricity where it's actually going to be used.
full article
Developers say fuel cells for homes produce one-third less of the pollution that causes global warming than conventional electricity generation does.
"I was a bit worried in the beginning whether it was going to inconvenience my family or I wouldn't be able to take a bath," said the 45-year-old Japanese businessman, who lives with his wife, Tomoko, and two children, 12 and 9. But, as head of a construction company, he was naturally interested in new technology for homes.
Tomoko Naruse, 40, initially worried the thing would explode, given all she had heard about the dangers of hydrogen.
"Actually, you forget it's even there," her husband said.
Their plain gray fuel cell is about the size of a suitcase and sits just outside their door next to a tank that turns out to be a water heater. In the process of producing electricity, the fuel cell gives off enough warmth to heat water for the home.
The oxygen that the fuel cell uses comes from the air. The hydrogen is extracted from natural gas by a device called a reformer in the same box as the fuel cell. But a byproduct of that process is poisonous carbon monoxide. So another machine in the gray box adds oxygen to the carbon monoxide to create carbon dioxide, which — though it contributes to global warming — is not poisonous.
The entire process produces less greenhouse gas per watt than traditional generation. And no energy is wasted transporting the electricity where it's actually going to be used.
full article
Monday, 3 March 2008
Green sports car set for launch
A "zero-emission" sports car with a top speed of nearly 100mph is set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.
The hydrogen-powered Lifecar, based on the design of the Morgan Aero-8 roadster, produces little noise and only water vapour from its exhaust.
The lightweight model packs advanced fuel cells and an energy storage system that gives the car a range of 250 miles (400km) per tank of hydrogen.
It has been developed by a consortium of UK companies and universities.
"Figures suggest the car should be capable of doing 0-60 [miles per hour] in about seven seconds," Matthew Parkin of classic sports car manufacturer Morgan told BBC News.
The £1.9m project to build the Lifecar, part funded by the UK government, has taken nearly three years.
"The basic concept was to build an entertaining and fun sports car that would act as a showcase for the technology and would deliver 150 miles to the gallon," said Mr Parkin.
"Everything else has tumbled out from that."
The car is powered by a bank of lightweight hydrogen fuel-cells developed by UK defence firm Qinetiq.
"If you took a typical internal combustion engine and replaced it with a fuel cell, the fuel cell would be very large," explained Ian Whiting of Qinetiq. "That's not an efficient way to do things."
The fuel cells in the Lifecar produce about 22 kilowatts - roughly one fifth of the amount of power of a typical combustion engine.
full article
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