A recent survey by Siemens today detail how 70% of Companies were embracing investment in Energy Efficiency improvements in their buildings, having seen the evidence that in as little as two years most of them could start making savings and see returns. However, a hardcore 30% of boardroom directors still refuse to budge and are firmly seated in their trenches with a stolid determinism reminiscent of the Spartan warriors in the classic film 300! Although in this case the tide of progress is for good.
The whole of the UK is now set to undergo a dramatic building revamp to bring it closer to its 2050 governmental obligation of reducing our countries carbon emissions by 80%. The Energy Act and its endorsement of packages such as the Green Deal are all in place to help get this process off the ground. It seems to me rather sad, that even in the face of climate change and the desperate necessitiy to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, some people, still refuse to accept the facts and try to spurn the inevitable tide of progress. Perhaps its time to take the blinkers off their eyes and the cotton wool out of their ears because whether they like it or not, the world is changing and its not going to wait for them to make up their minds.
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Friday 20 January 2012
UK must go with the eco flow!
The UK has arguably got the worst carbon footprint in Europe, a bit like a doc martin sized boot mark, that has left a rather unsavoury stain on your new clean carpet and ruined the look of your entire front room...you wouldn't want that person round for dinner again in a hurry... It's not a question of choice anymore for the UK, we either shape up now and join the rest of the club (at least on environmental issues even if we don't like the fiscal implications...) or we go down in history as the dirtiest, most stubborn and selfish country, to have ever disgraced this part of the planet in recent history. Now I for one, don't wish to be associated with such a foul footnote in history and I'm sure you don't either so keep on pushing renewable s and with the power of the Sun behind us we can take this forlorn Island into a more ecologically balanced future.
Thursday 19 January 2012
Location! Location! Goes Energy Efficient!
Tonight's episode of the property hunting program Location! Location! on channel 4 sees the presenters looking for houses with a high energy efficiency rating in the UK towns of Windsor and Maidenhead. In the program we see them looking for somewhere with a Watermill and Solar Panels! Every rented or saleable dwelling in UK must now have an EPC or Energy Performance certificate as discussed briefly in yesterdays blog on the Green Deal. The EPC gives a property a grade between A and G after an assessment by a qualified energy assessor. The EPC is then made available for the prospective owner to see before renting or purchasing the property so they can have a clear idea of how green and economical their potential new home may be. Great news for the ongoing fight to reduce carbon emissions! If you want to know more about EPC's and how to go about getting one I recommend Just EPC a very well respected UK company with a huge team of qualified energy assessors.
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Green Deal or Green Spiel?
This year will see the implementation of the governments new energy efficient initiative known as The Green Deal. The Guardian says it is "to be the biggest home energy program of modern times....set to be a monumental year for Britain". The deal is being put in place to tackle our increasingly expensive to heat housing stock and will "unleash real competitive forces in the energy efficient market". British homes are amongst the most energy inefficient in Europe with over 4.1 million still; living in poverty and over 8 million solid wall homes with no realisably affordable solution for energy efficient insulation. Just from looking at the figures the outlook seems rather bleak and depressing to say the least but that, according to Greg Baker, the Minister for Climate Change is what this deal is here to rectify. Some people feel this is a deal for the middle classes and that ultimately the poor will pick up the bill and be further squeezed for what little they have but Mr. Baker says this is "simply not true" and the Green Deal is there "support the poorest and most vulnerable house holds, as well as those in properties which are most difficult to improve".
Already set for 2018 there is a bill stating that it will be against the law or any landlord to rent out a property that has an Energy Performance Certificate (these have been compulsory from 2008 and measure the energy efficiency of a property in relation to cost of heating and amount of carbon emissions produced ) with a grading of F and G, G being the lowest and A being the highest. This for me is a welcome move but having to wait six years for its implementation seems a little far off and with governmental changes over this period of time could be nothing more paying lip service to pressure from the green movement.
When the Green Deal kicks off the government will be putting up £200 Million to provide introductory offers to help kick start the process. The idea is to result in an ultimately more competitive and fair energy efficiency market, helping with a range of long lasting and affordable improvements to properties and overall to our collective well being as a country and bring us in line with the rest of Europe, hopefully removing our tarnished image as the dirty stain on the bottom of Europe's trousers.
As we know the government withdrew a large proportion of its funding for the domestic and commercial solar industry not long after it was granted, Mr. Cameron stating that it was meant only as a boost to the industry and not a permanent fixture, something which it had been sold as initially if my memory serves me correctly. Either way, lets hope this new initiative takes off and the vision of Mr. Baker is realised sooner, rather than later.
As we know the government withdrew a large proportion of its funding for the domestic and commercial solar industry not long after it was granted, Mr. Cameron stating that it was meant only as a boost to the industry and not a permanent fixture, something which it had been sold as initially if my memory serves me correctly. Either way, lets hope this new initiative takes off and the vision of Mr. Baker is realised sooner, rather than later.
For the full Guardian article visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/17/green-deal-home-energy
Tuesday 17 January 2012
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Thursday 12 January 2012
One of worlds largest Solar Power plants built in Ukraine.
Activ Solar, based in Austria has announced the completion of one of the world's largest solar photovoltaic plants.Named Perovo, the 100-megawatt Solar Power Station has been built in the Ukraine's Crimea.The size of approximately 259 football pitches, Perovo has more than 440,000 crystalline solar PV Modules that can produce as much as 132,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of clean, renewable electrical energy in one year, which is enough to satisfy the needs of the Ukraine Crimea capital, Simferopol, avoiding more than 105,000 tons of carbon emissions!
On an economic level, the plant has created more than 800 much needed green jobs in the area and is the third successful ground breaking project to be completed by the company in 2011.Their previous project, launched in October was the 80-MW Ohotnikovo Solar Power Station, the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. An an integrated solar PV industry company, Activ, in addition to the production of large scale solar PV projects, has produced silicon products since 1964., producing solar-grade poly silicon ingots, wafers and solar PV cells at its subsidiary PJSC Semiconductor Plant in Zaporozhye, Ukraine.
This is just one example of many similar projects taking off world wide and is very encouraging to read about in view of the current global ecological crisis that we find ourselves in. Hopefully, in time we will see an end to the petro chemical and carbon emitting dinosaurs that are destroying our planet and holding us to ransom with soaring energy prices, especially in view of the recent notification by British Gas that their prices will be going up by 15% very soon. How can we afford this? Why should we let them dictate to us and control our lives? By embracing Solar Power and other forms of alternative energy we can reclaim control and create our own energy, something which the corporate bully boys in the petro chem industry have been trying to stop for the best part of the 20th Century.
Source :- http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Activ_Solar_Completes_100_Plus_MW_Perovo_Solar_PV_Station_999.html
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