Already popular in Canada and many northern European countries, renewable energy systems such as solar panels and ground source heat pumps (GSHP) have found their way into nearly 3000 Scottish homes - and they look set to take off in an even bigger way, as the Scottish Government presses ahead with a grant scheme to help roll the technology out across the country.
Steve Macken, a 43-year-old father of two, was amazed to discover that by employing GSHP technology in his home he was able to reduce his annual power bill by around £1700 - despite having moved to a larger property.
Until last year, Mr Macken and his family lived in a Victorian villa near Loch Lomond, and spent around £2000 a year on heat and energy. Now, after relocating to a restored farmhouse nearby, the family pays just £300 annually.
The cost of installing their system wasn't cheap - around £11,000, two or three times the cost a standard oil boiler would have been with Mr Macken's home off the gas mains grid. But 30% of that total was covered by a grant from the Scottish Community and Householder Renewable Initiative (SCHRI), a Scottish Government-funded body.
The GSHP system provides the Mackens with all of their heating requirements, powering a boiler using energy harnessed from the ground by a network of underground coils, and the happy homeowners so far have no problems to report.
By Chris Watt
full article
Thursday, 17 July 2008
EDF Energy – Powering a sustainable future
EDF Energy also plans to help its customers cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 15 per cent by 2020. The company sells energy to five million UK households a year. Currently, 300,000 customers have signed up to its “read, reduce, reward” scheme, a tariff that rewards customers with nectar loyalty card points for cutting their domestic energy use.
Ferguson says: “It’s quite weird for an energy company to reward customers for using less.” Customers benefit by giving the company accurate meter readings, meaning they get more accurate bills and so a better understanding of their energy use.
As EDF Energy encourages customers to use less energy, it is changing its business model by moving into energy services – advising corporate clients on how to cut their energy use to meet European energy efficiency laws. It also advises UK customers on how to prepare for the proposed carbon reduction commitment, the emissions trading scheme for non energy-intensive industries such as supermarkets, banks, hotels and hospitals.
Ferguson says: “We’re making small steps towards the energy services model. What it requires is much greater engagement of customers with energy, [and] between us and our customers, than is really there at the moment.”
EDF Energy does not know the exact number of its fuel-poor customers, Ferguson admits. He believes energy companies could do much more to share information on vulnerable customers. This could include gaining access to lists of benefits claimants, who tend to be in fuel poverty. The company says it will work with the regulator, Ofgem, and the government to find ways to better identify which customers should be on a “social tariff” – a cheaper energy rate for poor households.
The company was the first UK energy supplier, in 2006, to introduce a social tariff. The discounted rate saves 50,000 customers up to around £150 a year compared to standard rate electricity and gas customers. The company has helped a further 8,000 indebted customers pay fuel bills since 2003. Under its “social commitments”, a set of social targets launched earlier this year, EDF Energy plans to help another 15,000 customers who are in debt pay fuel bills from the fund by 2012.
According to Energywatch figures, the average annual fuel bill for an EDF Energy customer using a pre-payment meter would be £1,037 (based on June prices). That is £72 more than the £965 bill for an EDF Energy customer paying by direct debit. This is the lowest differential in the industry. The largest is charged by British Gas, whose pre-payment meter customers must pay £176 more a year than those that pay by direct debit.
EDF Energy has a leading position in addressing the needs of the poorest customers. But with average UK energy bills already over £1,000 a year and rising, all energy suppliers will be under pressure to cut margins by refusing to pass on soaring wholesale oil and gas prices to customers on all incomes. How EDF Energy responds to this much bigger challenge could be the real test of its social commitment.
full article
Ferguson says: “It’s quite weird for an energy company to reward customers for using less.” Customers benefit by giving the company accurate meter readings, meaning they get more accurate bills and so a better understanding of their energy use.
As EDF Energy encourages customers to use less energy, it is changing its business model by moving into energy services – advising corporate clients on how to cut their energy use to meet European energy efficiency laws. It also advises UK customers on how to prepare for the proposed carbon reduction commitment, the emissions trading scheme for non energy-intensive industries such as supermarkets, banks, hotels and hospitals.
Ferguson says: “We’re making small steps towards the energy services model. What it requires is much greater engagement of customers with energy, [and] between us and our customers, than is really there at the moment.”
EDF Energy does not know the exact number of its fuel-poor customers, Ferguson admits. He believes energy companies could do much more to share information on vulnerable customers. This could include gaining access to lists of benefits claimants, who tend to be in fuel poverty. The company says it will work with the regulator, Ofgem, and the government to find ways to better identify which customers should be on a “social tariff” – a cheaper energy rate for poor households.
The company was the first UK energy supplier, in 2006, to introduce a social tariff. The discounted rate saves 50,000 customers up to around £150 a year compared to standard rate electricity and gas customers. The company has helped a further 8,000 indebted customers pay fuel bills since 2003. Under its “social commitments”, a set of social targets launched earlier this year, EDF Energy plans to help another 15,000 customers who are in debt pay fuel bills from the fund by 2012.
According to Energywatch figures, the average annual fuel bill for an EDF Energy customer using a pre-payment meter would be £1,037 (based on June prices). That is £72 more than the £965 bill for an EDF Energy customer paying by direct debit. This is the lowest differential in the industry. The largest is charged by British Gas, whose pre-payment meter customers must pay £176 more a year than those that pay by direct debit.
EDF Energy has a leading position in addressing the needs of the poorest customers. But with average UK energy bills already over £1,000 a year and rising, all energy suppliers will be under pressure to cut margins by refusing to pass on soaring wholesale oil and gas prices to customers on all incomes. How EDF Energy responds to this much bigger challenge could be the real test of its social commitment.
full article
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Rocketing fuel prices inspire energy saving
More and more people are investigating energy saving measures as fuel poverty looms, according to the Northern Ireland Energy Authority.
As prices rocket, the number of calls to their energy helpline has doubled since this time last year — but the real surge in demand is expected to come this autumn as temperatures drop.
Director Nigel Brady said the number of inquiries to the helpline, a one-stop-shop where people can seek energy advice, rose from 4,241 calls in April, May and June last year to 8,800 for the same period this year.
Staff have kept tabs on what questions the callers are asking and it seems they are worried about the way energy prices are going, he said.
"But if we could make our housing stock more energy efficient and encourage people to use renewable technologies then we could reduce our reliance on fossil fuels like oil which are rocketing in price," said Mr Brady.
"If we made our homes more energy efficient then we would save up to about £250 a year. "
By Linda McKee
full article
As prices rocket, the number of calls to their energy helpline has doubled since this time last year — but the real surge in demand is expected to come this autumn as temperatures drop.
Director Nigel Brady said the number of inquiries to the helpline, a one-stop-shop where people can seek energy advice, rose from 4,241 calls in April, May and June last year to 8,800 for the same period this year.
Staff have kept tabs on what questions the callers are asking and it seems they are worried about the way energy prices are going, he said.
"But if we could make our housing stock more energy efficient and encourage people to use renewable technologies then we could reduce our reliance on fossil fuels like oil which are rocketing in price," said Mr Brady.
"If we made our homes more energy efficient then we would save up to about £250 a year. "
By Linda McKee
full article
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Car firm unveils green 4x4 with a unique celling point
This is the 4x4 of the future: fuelled by hydrogen and emitting just a few drops of water for every 300 miles travelled.
On the surface it looks much like an ordinary Nissan 4x4. But under the bonnet, engineers have installed one of the most advanced hydrogen fuel cells yet. A tank filled with hydrogen enables the vehicle to travel that far - and those water drops are said to be clean enough to drink.
The Japanese car giant unveiled the multi-million-pound research car at Imperial College, London, today and said it represents the way millions of motorists will travel by 2020. Work on the firm's Fuel Cell Vehicle programme began in 1996, reaching a pinnacle with this version of the X-Trail. Nissan says it is world's most advanced FCV.
Officials admit there is still "significant" development work to be done. But scientists expect to have cracked key challenges - such as the durability of the fuel-cell - by 2010. Then they must achieve "drastic" cost reductions and make breakthroughs in the storage of hydrogen before the car can go on sale, after 2015.
Already engineers have boosted fuel-cell performance so it is 40 per cent smaller than earlier prototypes. And they have developed a system to compress hydrogen that allows enough fuel to be stored for about 300 miles.
David Williams
full article
On the surface it looks much like an ordinary Nissan 4x4. But under the bonnet, engineers have installed one of the most advanced hydrogen fuel cells yet. A tank filled with hydrogen enables the vehicle to travel that far - and those water drops are said to be clean enough to drink.
The Japanese car giant unveiled the multi-million-pound research car at Imperial College, London, today and said it represents the way millions of motorists will travel by 2020. Work on the firm's Fuel Cell Vehicle programme began in 1996, reaching a pinnacle with this version of the X-Trail. Nissan says it is world's most advanced FCV.
Officials admit there is still "significant" development work to be done. But scientists expect to have cracked key challenges - such as the durability of the fuel-cell - by 2010. Then they must achieve "drastic" cost reductions and make breakthroughs in the storage of hydrogen before the car can go on sale, after 2015.
Already engineers have boosted fuel-cell performance so it is 40 per cent smaller than earlier prototypes. And they have developed a system to compress hydrogen that allows enough fuel to be stored for about 300 miles.
David Williams
full article
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