New boilers offer an escape from soaring fuel bills

For the domestic energy consumer facing ever higher bills, one of the most efficient ways to stay warm and keep the lights on has been a pipe dream so far, but record high fuel prices have focused minds on making it reality.

Large-scale combined heat and power plants are widely used across Europe to supply residential areas with warmth, hot water and electricity.

Now, a scaled-down version of the technology is becoming more attractive for use in individual households as gas and power costs soar in line with record oil prices.

Although micro combined heat and power (mCHP) mean homeowners have to invest new boilers, it allows them to sell any extra power they make back to the national grid and eventually make a profit.

At the same time, the increased efficiency cuts carbon emissions and could enable households to become entirely energy independent.

The technology has been commercially available in Britain since 2006 but is gaining popularity as oil prices drive up energy bills and public concern over global warming intensifies.

"It's part of a whole suite of solutions, which we should be developing," said Robin Oakley of environmental group Greenpeace.

"The underlying principle of getting more energy out of the same fuel is a very good one ... Realistically, at the domestic level people make a decision about a boiler when the old one breaks, but high prices are focusing everyone's minds."

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PM's new homes 'not green enough'

Gordon Brown's plan to build 3 million homes by 2020 is coming under renewed criticism from a powerful group of MPs just days after Caroline Flint, the housing minister, inadvertently let slip that prices are to fall by 10 per cent.

The environmental audit committee is accumulating evidence to assess the impact of 3 million new homes. Tim Yeo, its chairman, is concerned that new homes are not near transport hubs and have few employment opportunities, so leading to increased commuting. In addition, too few new homes, he argues, are built with sustainable materials, many proposed settlements are located in flood plains, and there are fears about inferior quality. Yeo also wants more money diverted into energy efficiency. 'We are years behind other European countries,' he said.

The committee has already taken one week's evidence, with more sessions scheduled this week. The report will be published in July.

Criticism of Brown's housing plans, a central plank of his premiership, will be unwelcome for the Prime Minister whose time as Chancellor coincided with a housing boom caused in part by a lack of newly built homes. The number of new homes built this year is likely to be about 150,000 - 50,000 fewer than last year.

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scheming power firms rig prices to con families out of £400 every year

Households are being overcharged by more than £400 a year for gas and electricity because power companies are fixing prices, it is claimed.

The official consumer body Energywatch says the power supply industry in Britain and Europe is rigged against consumers.

It also accuses the Government of being docile and complacent while millions struggle to pay their bills.

Householders have already been hit with a 15 per cent increase this year, and the industry is suggesting another 25 per cent rise.

The giant power suppliers claim they are simply passing on increases in the wholesale cost of gas, which has been driven up by a record leap in the price of oil to more than 120 dollars a barrel.

However, Energywatch says this link between the gas price and oil is unjustified, artificial and outdated. The watchdog says the link amounts to a form of price-fixing.

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Concern over small biomass option

Small-scale biomass power plants can have a greater environmental impact than other renewables, a study says.

UK researchers found that although the facilities offered carbon savings, they produced more pollutants per unit of electricity than larger biomass plants.

They suggested the way the feedstock was transported produced proportionally more pollutants than larger sites.

The findings challenged the view that such schemes offer an green alternative to grid-based electricity, they added.

Supporters of community biomass schemes say the power plants are sustainable because the fuel, such as wood chips, can be sourced from the local area.

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