Watchdog Consumer Focus has released a report stating that energy companies are withholding £1.6bn worth of savings from their customers. Widely reported all over the media when the story broke on 25th June, the Watchdog Consumer Focus report states that energy companies have failed to act to bring consumers household energy bills down, in-line with recent reductions of wholesale prices.

Households saw their energy bills rise last year by over 40% in price, brought upon by the rising cost of oil. And, although energy companies were quick off the mark to increase prices, they have failed to be so speedy in reducing end user costs, despite their savings. The report suggests that gas is being charged at over 7% more than it should, and customers are being overcharged by more than 3% for their electricity, resulting in an estimated £74 annual cost to the consumer.

Gerry Felgate, the Chief Executive of Energy Retail Association, came out in defence of the ‘big six’ energy supply companies, saying that the watchdog group had miscalculated. Mr Felgate argues that energy prices are calculated on more than just end user consumption, and factors such as transportation of gas and power, and the government costs relating towards carbon emissions, all contributed to overall expenditure.

End users were warned by Uswitch.com, that if energy prices continue to rise at the same rate, by 2020, households could be expected to pay nearly £5000 a year on gas and electric! In the mean time, consumers are encouraged to visit the Uswitch website, to see if they could be getting a better deal.

A check-list for an ideal renewable energy source may go a little bit like this… Source must not require soil, not need fresh water, be space efficient, absorb CO2 and should create own energy from the sun… Well, the Renewable Energy World Magazine says that all those boxes on the renewable energy source check-list can now be ticked, all thanks to advances in Algae bio-fuel development.

When companies such as Bill Gates, Cascade Investment LLC, conjure up over 100 million dollars worth of investment, then you know that this is a bio-fuel with a future. And when you start number crunching, and realise that this little single-celled plant produces energy at twenty times the rate of corn and soy, you realise why the renewable energy community is getting excited.

Indeed, so convinced of its virtue, the Renewable Energy World Magazine tells us that the European Union is investing 2.7 billion Euros, over the next seven years, in algae bio-fuel development research and production.

We all know that oil resources are becoming harder to extract and refine, and that because of this, oil prices will continue to rise, until oil literally runs out, so the race for the next generation of clean, accessible, renewable energy is more important than ever. It seems inevitable that renewable energy will only come when commercial viability is an option, and as we are seeing large corporations investing in algae, then it seems more likely that this will become the next bio-fuel to replace corn and soy.

Dubbed ‘Green Crude’, San Diego based company Sapphire Energy, aims to produce 10,000 barrels of algae bio-fuel within five years.

Summer is upon us at last, and while things finally start to heat up outside, we can all take advantage of the financial perks that come with hot weather – i.e., no heating, and getting washing dried outside on washing line.

However, British Gas boilers are determined to remind us that winter fuel bills are just around the corner!

It is not all doom and gloom though, as customers have just over a month to take advantage of the latest boiler offer from British Gas. Which they are claiming that you could save up to £852, if you buy a new boiler from them before the 25th July 2009!

Customers who take British Gas up on this offer will also receive a one year aftercare service, called HomeCare 200, that even also applies to radiators and pipes that are already existent in their property!

Included in the estimated £852 savings, are the installation of six ‘free’ radiator controls – a saving that amounts to a staggering £248!

British Gas also claim that a new boiler bought from them, that is energy efficient, could make you a humongous saving in the region of £275 a year off your heating bills!

Of course as you are buying from British Gas, all their engineers will be Gas Safe registered and trained. British gas also will fit your new system with magnaclean corrosion inhibitor, protecting the future of your central heating system.

Full details of this offer are available on the British Gas website, including telephone numbers to ring if you would like a quote, or have any enquiries.

The current global recession has meant that the majority of people have had to try to find ways to cut spending, tighten their belts and carefully budget to manage money. During this time of financial hardship, it can be very tempting to cut costs that are not seen as priority or urgent. For example, many people may consider delaying or postponing their annual gas boiler check, in a bid to save money. However, making such a decision could end up costing you more money in additional boiler repairs, not to mention, put you and your family’s health and safety at risk.

Your annual gas boiler check ensures that your boiler is running efficiently and safety. Although modern gas boilers are generally reliable and considered safe, there is always the possibility of a leak – and we are all well aware of the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Further more, having a Gas Safe registered reliable tradesman check and perform your annual gas boiler maintenance, will ensure that any components that are dirty, or any deposits that have built up, can be cleaned. Also, the engineer will be able to check pressure and general running of your boiler, all of which will make your boiler run more efficiently, thus saving you money on your annual gas bill.

Annual gas boiler checks may not be cheap – costing from £50 upwards. So, consider taking out a boiler maintenance insurance policy. Many policies will allow you to pay a monthly fee and include regular check ups. Having a boiler insurance policy will also give you piece of mind, knowing that the engineer sent to check your boiler is correctly qualified and attended an accredited gas training course.

In a world where burning fossil fuels has been shown to damage the environment, greater attention has been given to finding alternative energy sources, such as through the use of solar hot water heating panels.

Another method of providing green energy at home is through the harnessing of wind power, which already makes up a substantial part of the world’s green energy supplies, as indicated by the thousands of enormous wind turbines positioned atop of hills across the globe. But does a home wind turbine solution work?

Home Wind Turbine Kits

Although industrial large-scale turbines can generate plenty of green electricity at altitude, the home wind turbine solution has not quite lived up to expectations. Despite being able to produce some power, a typical home wind turbine is not as efficient as the latest solar panel installations or, for that matter, geothermal alternatives.

Typically priced between £500-£3000, the average home wind turbine kit will suffer from a number of fundamental problems. Because buildings create a great deal of turbulence, which causes wind turbines to work less efficiently. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that houses tend to be positioned next to other houses, which are quite often situated at different heights. In addition to performing inefficiently, turbines also tend to be very noisy, although the latest kits available do manage to reduce noise to a certain extent. However, even modern kits cannot resolve the fundamental problem of vibration, which can wreak havoc on buildings.

In summary, wind turbine kits for the home are making significant technological advances towards producing green energy more efficiently, but they remain relatively expensive solutions that many would argue amount to little more than a complete waste of time and money.

Barratt Developments Plc (BDEV) and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) have received good news this week in their quest to reach a Level 6 standard of housing in respect to the Code for Sustainable Homes, which was launched by the UK Government in April 2007. Barratt Developments and the HCA have received planning permission to build 195 carbon neutral homes as part of an eco village in Gloucestershire.

According to former Housing Minister, Margaret Beckett, who was ironically removed from Government on the 5th June 2009 following a controversial second home expenses claim, the housing market in the UK makes up a quarter of the country’s carbon emissions, which is why the Code for Sustainable Housing demands zero carbon housing as of 2016. Whilst this is an ambitious target, the project undertaken by Barrett Developments and the HCA prove that it is one that can be achieved.

How to Make an ‘Eco Village’

All new homes developed as part of the so-called eco village will be made from energy efficient materials and will conform to very high standards of cavity wall and loft insulation. Furthermore, the homes will feature advanced water conservation techniques – another area in which the UK Government aims to reverse the damage inflicted upon the environment by our housing needs.

Indeed, water conservation is a mandatory requirement of Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which demands that new housing incorporates a specific design for daily water usage of 80 litres per person. This may be achieved through dual flush water closets, flow reducing taps, a 6-9 litres per minutes shower, smaller shaped baths and maximum volumes imposed on washing machines and dishwashers. Level 6 also requires that at least 90 out of 100 points is achieved across the Code’s nine categories of sustainable design, which includes reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, using environmentally friendly construction materials and minimising the buildings’ ecological impact.

Therefore, when inflation begins to recover and the housing market returns to some form of normality, which invariably means inflated selling prices, look out for the new sustainable homes – they are a genuine step forward into the future.

Energy consumers are constantly advised to save electricity in their home or workplace, but how many people actually understand what this entails? Without doubt, it is fairly obvious that unnecessarily leaving equipment on all day will result in a waste of electricity. This can also be applied to leaving a television or sky box on standby, or running an old appliance with poor energy efficiency. However, the extent to which these actually affect electricity consumption is unclear. Indeed, consumers gain little awareness from their electricity bills that simply show the amount of electricity used over a month, the peak times at which the energy was consumed and how much it all cost.

Thus, step forward the Google PowerMeter. Currently undergoing trial services in parts of the USA, Canada and India, the Google PowerMeter, which is provided by Google.org – a good causes organisation that manages the Google Foundation, which was established by but remains legally separate from Google Incorporated – may be rolled out across the world during the next few years. The Google PowerMeter works by monitoring a household’s energy consumption in a secure Google gadget, which then provides detailed information to the consumer. This information will include an analysis of the electricity usage for each electrical appliance (that is fed by the mains power) in the home, which will give the consumer the valuable data they need in order to make informed decisions on how to save electricity.

Out With The Old, In With The New

By way of an example, if an energy consumer uses the Google PowerMeter to spot that their old washing machine is causing the electricity to spike considerably during its three hour cycle, they will be able to determine whether there is a financial benefit in replacing it with a more energy efficient model. Furthermore, detailing precisely how much electricity is spent unnecessarily, such as when appliances are left on standby for any length of time, will enable the consumer to review their own habits and, hopefully, will allow them to save on energy prices.

We all know about the virtues of solar hot water heating and other methods of harvesting renewable energy on a large scale, such as hydroelectric power plants and the countless wind turbines that sit atop hills across the country.

With rising central heating costs and the sensitivity of the traditional fossil fuel markets to external factors such as war and diplomatic relations, the importance of sourcing renewable power is greater than it ever has been. Indeed, if only for the protection of the Earth must humanity look to reducing its carbon footprint, which means moving away from energy derived from coal and oil towards clean renewable sources such as the sun, water and wind. One lesser known source of ‘green energy’, however, can be found deep below our feet.

Granite Power

Whilst geothermal energy is nothing new, a larger scale initiative in Cornwall plans to provide energy for an entire town. Indeed, the Eden Project, in conjunction with its energy partner EGS Energy, has applied for planning permission to bore two holes into the ground of 3km and 4km in depth. Hot granite rocks beneath will be penetrated by injection holes carrying water, which in turn will be percolated by the extreme geothermal temperatures. Then, using a heat exchanger, the hot water will be converted into electricity, which will power the Eden Project buildings primarily with the remainder being fed back into the National Grid.

Harnessing power in this way and on this scale is an extremely exciting project, not least because it provides a glimpse into the future of green energy but so far as the process is predominantly an underground activity, which means that the impact on the environment above remains largely unaffected. It also means that improvements on existing geothermal products aimed at residential properties, which tend to provide heating only services (for the boiler, underfloor heating, etc.), may one day be able to contribute electricity to the homes and surrounding community on a mass scale. Certainly, if homes across the country were powered by this renewable geothermal energy, the carbon footprint produced by Britain would be reduced markedly.

There is now such a widespread knowledge of global warming and an awareness that immediate measures must be undertaken to help fight the burgeoning problem that consumers are understanding of what it takes to reduce their carbon footprint. However, there is a perception that saving the planet is a futile battle if not everybody does their bit, which is a genuine concern to consider. Indeed, an essential condition of local authorities and awareness groups requesting that households take steps to be greener is that it only really works on a mass scale – if only a small proportion of homes recycle, for instance, it defeats the primary object. Furthermore, there is also a fear that doing one’s bit for the planet means giving up a modern lifestyle – one that is entirely based on consumption.

Every Bit Helps

Going green does not necessarily mean that solar hot water heating panels must be installed on every roof, for instance, although a significant reduction in central heating costs can be saved by reducing lost heat through the home. This can be achieved with double glazing, loft and cavity wall insulation. However, the tip for this Summer is to use less. No, that does not mean retreating into the caves and thwacking a club around – it simply demands that we are all watchful of our energy usage.

Caroline Laitner is a senior consultant at Waste Watch and has recently advised that we can do more to save the planet by purchasing electrical goods that will consume less power than their substitutes (for example, an LCD television will typically use less electricity than a plasma television) and which will hopefully last a while.

Turning off standby switches is another very simple way to save electricity and, in doing so, saves both money and reduces a home’s carbon footprint. Sky boxes, televisions, computers and dvd players are routinely left on standby and by simply turning these appliances off at the socket when not in use will make a difference. Furthermore, if it is not convenient to switch off the computer, ensure that the disk drives hibernates or its monitor switches off after a certain period of inactivity.

We’re pleased to announce our sister site Boiler Guide has been launched, the site offers a complete list of nationwide engineers for the installation and servicing of gas and oil central heating boilers.

The site enables consumers to find and locate engineers in their area and in some cases request quotes directly through the site. The quote request feature is being gradually rolled out as more engineers register for the service which is currently on a 6 month free trial basis.

Popular locations include Birmingham and London alongside Manchester and Leeds and with over 8,000 engineers listed we’re hoping to supply Britain’s boiler and heating engineers with a good supply of sales leads!