Green refurbishment could create a £3.5 billion market

Research from the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University indicates that refurbishing existing housing in the UK to make it more energy efficient could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 75% versus current levels, as well as creating a £3.5-6.5 billion market for builders.

Homes in the UK account for 27% of the country’s total carbon emissions and the Government has set ambitious targets to make all newly built homes in the country zero carbon by 2016 to help tackle climate change. However, the vast majority of the country’s existing housing stock is already built and will still be occupied in 2050.
“UK housing is among the worst in Europe when it comes to energy efficiency,” says Killip. “Bringing British homes up to standard is possible using existing technology but the skills and industry base to deliver the necessary change is underdeveloped.”

The recommendations include new policies from the Government that commit to and support the refurbishment of existing homes to improve energy efficiency, cutting VAT on refurbishing work from 17.5% to 5%, introducing Council Tax rebates on energy efficient homes and feed-in tariffs to stimulate use of microgeneration.

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The Great Biofuels Con

Rarely in political history can there have been such a rapid and dramatic reversal of a received wisdom as we have seen in the past 18 months over biofuels – the cropping of living plants, such as soya beans, wheat and sugar cane, to generate energy.
Two years ago biofuels were still being hailed as a dream solution to what was seen as one of the most urgent problems confronting mankind – our dependence on fossil fuels, which are not only finite but seemed to be threatening the world with the catastrophe of global warming.

In March 2007 the leaders of the European Union, in a package of measures designed to lead the world in the "fight against climate change", committed us by 2020 to deriving 10 per cent of all transport fuel from "renewables", above all biofuels, which theoretically gave off no more carbon dioxide than was absorbed in their growing.

Since then, however, the biofuels dream has been disintegrating with the speed of a collapsing card house. Environmentalists, formerly keen on this "green energy", expressed horror at the havoc it was inflicting on the world's eco-systems, not least the clearing of rainforests to grow fuel crops.

As the world suddenly faced its worst food shortage for decades, sending prices spiralling, experts pointed out that a major cause had been diverting millions of acres of farmland from food production to fuel. The damage this was inflicting on the world's poor led a United Nations official to describe the rush for biofuels as "a crime against humanity".

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UK energy bills to rise by an additional £5.3bn to fund 2020 emissions targets

At a time when consumer energy prices are already rising, a new report from Ernst & Young - Costing the earth? - has estimated that the typical UK domestic energy bill will need to increase by an additional 20%, and probably more, to pay for the cost of meeting the EU's 2020 emissions targets. This will lead to a total annual cost of £5.3bn to UK consumers in 2020. The 20% rise is the minimum additional contribution each domestic household will have to make through their energy bill, to fund the £100bn plus capital investment required for the UK to meet emissions reduction and renewable energy targets for 2020. The rise (which does not factor in commodity prices and strips out inflation) equates to an increase of £213 per UK household on energy bills, leading to many more consumers being caught within the government's definition of fuel poverty.

He concludes, “There is no silver bullet to meeting the UK and EU imposed reductions in emissions by 2020. Successfully achieving those targets in the UK will require concerted action by energy suppliers working in partnership with government, little to no delays in the construction of low carbon generation such as new nuclear and renewables, clarity on policy mechanisms and better education for customers that they will have to pay for low carbon generation.”

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Warning on estimated power bills

Energy customers with estimated bills could be racking up debts of hundreds of pounds without realising it, according to Citizens Advice.
The charity says thousands of people have got in touch over their estimated gas and electric bills.
In the worst cases people have found they owed over £1,000 when they thought their direct debits were covering their energy costs.
It blamed the problem on spiralling tariffs and billing issues.

Tony Herbert, a senior policy officer with Citizens Advice, said with energy costs forecast to rise further this winter, the problem is likely to get worse.
"Families can rack up huge fuel bills without even realising it because the amount they're paying is actually based on estimated readings."

With energy bills set to rise sharply in the winter, both energy companies and advice organisations are recommending that people keep a close eye on their bills and check their gas and electricity meters themselves.
By Sarah Pennells

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