Islay is one of Scotland’s most famous and beautiful islands. With a population of around 3,500 and approximately 620 square kilometres of land, the island comprises a close community of inhabitants and features stunning scenery. Tourism is one of the key industries in addition to birdwatching and malt whisky distilling, whilst the climate in the region is relatively mild due to the Gulf Stream. Indeed, Islay is a lovely place to live or visit.

However, Islay’s spectacular landscapes are under threat from its population’s demand for electricity. Whilst this tranquil Scottish island offers a relaxed and uncomplicated way of life, people living there or on holiday will expect to enjoy a similar standard of living as they would back home. Nevertheless, generating electricity for the island can be an unsightly task, especially if certain forms of green renewable energy are used. For instance, wind turbines are rather ugly beasts that dominate the horizon and would spoil the attraction for many tourists. Thus, ScottishPower is drawing up plans to provide electricity from an altogether different form of green renewable energy.

Indeed, the Sound of Islay has been earmarked by the Islay Energy Trust for the development of a tidal energy site expected to generate around 10MW of electricity. If plans go ahead, the Islay tidal energy project will be one of the largest in the world and neighbouring countries will be watching closely to explore the effectiveness and viability of a project on this scale. With expected costs in the region of £50m, development of the site would take years to complete. Nevertheless, a successful tidal power project for Islay would represent a permanent move towards green renewable energy for its community.

The so-called Nimbys, or ‘not in my back yards’, have been blamed for many things over the years. Nimbys are easy targets because they are faceless individuals who can be used to demonstrate a point without there being the need to prove it with statistics. Furthermore, as Vestas’ vice president, Peter Kruse, recently pointed out, Nimbys are capable of derailing a country’s entire green energy movement. Whilst this must be met with a degree of scepticism not least because Vestas ditched its UK wind turbine manufacturing for cheaper pastures, the overriding point is intriguing.

Nimbys often raise their objections when something decidedly negative encroaches upon their way of life. Plans to build a tower block in a quiet suburb or a motorway bypass through a picturesque village are common complaints for Nimbys. In contemplation of environmental disaster and soaring energy prices, do Nimbys really oppose the green energy drive? Are Nimbys ultimately to blame for the collapse of the UK’s wind turbine manufacturing industry? The answer is perhaps yes.

Of course, many people still do not accept the importance of adopting green renewable sources of energy. Either blinded to the empirical evidence of rising oceans, holes in the o-zone layer and unseasonal weather or selfishly ignorant to the possibility of environmental disaster occurring in their lifetime, the eco-Nimbys are those who will use their collective power to thwart attempts to change for the better. Movement towards clean renewable energy is a global necessity, so those who object to such changes on grounds that it would spoil their enjoyment of the countryside are inflicted by the same condition that has put humanity on an ecological precipice: personal greed.

When the UK Government talks about its ambitious renewable energy plans to develop new sites for wind power stations, the less favourable reality is the UK is lagging behind the rest of the developed world. Despite the fact that major energy companies such as E.ON & British Gas are pushing for increased wind power technology in the UK, the country is not producing sites fast enough to meet the Government’s carbon emissions targets. Furthermore, this has already caused problems for the British economy following the closure of a Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight, losing 425 jobs.

One of the chief reasons for closing the Isle of Wight plant was that Britain was simply not buying enough wind turbines. The vast majority of sales were made to the US and China, meaning that it made little economic sense to continue operations in the Isle of Wight when export costs could be slashed by building factories in these countries. Indeed, Vestas announced yesterday that it would generate 5,000 new jobs in the US, China and Spain to reflect these changes, whilst vindicating the Isle of Wight closure by reporting a 15% quarterly fall in profits.

It would seem that Vestas has made a purely commercial decision in light of the UK’s sluggish wind power market, which saw 0.5GW of wind farms installed last year compared to 8.5GW in the US. Whilst a direct comparison with the US is always misleading, the point remains that wind power in the UK is not the driving force that many politicians have claimed. This will no doubt affect energy consumers in the UK, who will have limited access to electricity generated by renewable sources.

The benefits of solar energy, harvested both on a mass scale and domestically through the installation of solar panels on rooftops, have been widely lauded by environmentalists, power companies and the UK Government. In pursuit of zero carbon homes, solar energy is regarded as one of the principal agents of change in home central heating.

Whereas wind power is generally unsuitable for domestic use, solar energy is relatively easy to install and provides power throughout the year. However, unlike the wind power industry, commercial solar energy is proving more financially vulnerable in the current economic climate.

Indeed, despite Germany’s recent economic recovery, its primary provider – and the world’s second largest manufacturer – of solar panels has recorded operating losses of around £41 million. Q-Cells has reported that sales for the first half of 2009 are down more than 36% on the previous year. This represents losses in excess of £315 million, although the company’s overall deficit is almost double this figure following negative share related activities. One consequence of Q-Cells’ downturn is that the firm is reducing its workforce by some 500 employees.

Unfortunately, Q-Cells’ poor business results are indicative of a trend emerging among solar cell manufacturers. ReneSola and JA Solar have also reported heavy losses. Specifically, following publication of their second-quarter reports, ReneSola is just over $3.5 million in the red whilst JA Solar has losses of $28.5 million. Therefore, the question must be asked: is solar power on a commercial scale financially viable? If Q-Cells, ReneSola and JA Solar are anything to go by, the answer is one that environmentally conscious home energy consumers may not want to hear.

E.ON has recently launched its Watt Watchers 2009 competition. Whilst this is clearly a pun on the popular calorie-busting programme, it is not inappropriate. In fact, Watt Watchers 2009 is remarkably similar to the aforementioned weight loss group as it encourages users to reduce their excessive consumption in order to slim down. More specifically, the person who sheds the most watts by using less electricity and gas wins a prize.

Indeed, Watt Watchers 2009 will reward the winner with a £1,000 cash prize whilst five other top-performing members or entrants will each receive £200. These prizes offer energy users great incentives to cut down on their electricity and gas consumption. Furthermore, those who do not win will still be able to enjoy the reduced energy bills that are associated with lower energy usage, so anybody who takes the competition seriously is almost guaranteed to benefit.

The driving force behind the competition is E.ON’s belief that energy consumers must become more aware of their usage habits. In particular, excessive or wasteful energy use must be cut down to provide a greener environment for everyone. Moreover, energy prices have long been derided by customers as unaffordable, yet by offering consumers the chance to explore ways in which energy can be saved, E.ON is helping to address one of the root causes of the problem. Indeed, it is believed that hundreds of pounds can be saved on average domestic energy bills if simple steps such as turning off standby lights are adopted. The competition ends on the 28th August and follows on from a successful 2008 campaign, in which the winner reduced consumption by 57%.

The domestic central heating and insulation markets are set for a boost if plans to allow homeowners to borrow up to £10,000 for renewable energy home improvements go ahead. Announced within the last few days, the plans have been devised by the UK’s Green Building Council, which was asked to facilitate a workable strategy for the Government’s latest green proposals.

The UK Government is keen to honour its green targets, which demand a sizeable cut in carbon emissions and aim to ensure that more energy is generated from clean renewable sources. The country’s housing stock, which produces a significant proportion of the UK’s carbon emissions, requires fundamental changes in order to adapt to these targets.

The Government is aware times are hard, economically speaking, so homeowners cannot easily finance all necessary changes. The housing market has been brought to its knees during the recession and is not expected to recover for several years. Nevertheless, the Government is eager to drive through its plans to shake up the way the country harnesses energy, so the task of adapting houses is considered crucial. Moreover, the Government wants action to be taken sooner rather than later in order to meet longer term green objectives over the next fifty years or so.

Therefore, the Government has already spent considerable amounts of public funds on sourcing new energy. Leading energy firms such as E.ON are already building massive wind power farms in collaboration with the Government. Thus, the £10,000 that might be made available to homeowners, which will most likely be paid back through council tax payments, will go a long way to fitting solar panels, insulating lofts and installing low energy boilers.

Owning and managing 21 operational wind farm sites across the UK, E.ON is the country’s leading developer/operator of this green renewable energy. Indeed, E.ON is the driving force behind the UK Government’s commitment to ensure by 2020, 15 million homes in the country are powered exclusively by wind farms.

Although this target has been criticised by opposition leaders who claim that broader environmental aims rely too heavily on wind power, E.ON remain firmly driven to delivering this perfectly viable form of renewable energy.

In fact, E.ON has teamed up with SeaZone to assess ideal locations for future wind farm developments. Using SeaZone HydroSpatial technology, E.ON has developed a highly detailed base map of the UK’s coastlines, which will be used in conjunction with E.ON’s Geographical Information System. This is a crucial step forward for E.ON, who are striving to ensure their bids for future wind farm developments are accepted by the UK Government. Furthermore, if E.ON were to progress with these latest rounds of developments, E.ON would further enhance its reputation of offering consumers renewable technologies at affordable energy prices.

Moreover, E.ON, in partnership with DONG Energy and Masdar, has been given the go-ahead for the London Array. This offshore wind farm will be the world’s largest when completed and it’s estimated that up to 750,000 homes will be powered by the farm, which will generate up to 1 GW of electricity per annum. In fact, in response to the UK Government’s target that 15.4% of the country’s electricity should be generated from renewable sources by 2015, the London Array is intended to provide around 7% towards this figure. In short, E.ON is developing heavily for a greener future.

If you want to reduce your households carbon emissions, save money and cut energy consumption, but are finding it difficult to know how to proceed, the latest trial between the award winning energy saving company, AlertMe and a division of British Gas, may just be the answer.

AlertMe have developed energy monitoring equipment that customers can use interactively and control remotely, through their broadband connection. The AlertMe hardware can be used to monitor and adjust their heating and energy consumption. By remotely logging-in to their accounts, customers can turn their heating up, down, on or off, as well as monitor and compare where energy is being used.

Now, British Gas New Energy have announced they are to team up with AlertMe in order to offer their customers the chance to embrace this new technology and save money by taking control in their own homes.

British Gas and AlertMe will be able to offer customers the ability to monitor information about their heating consumption, control their output and use the integrated technology and intelligent system, which can automatically detect when there is no one home and turn off or adjust the heating systems accordingly.

It is hoped that British Gas customers will be able to implement this technology into their home heating systems by the end of 2009. Customers may have to pay an initial outlay for the hardware equipment required and there is thought to be additional monthly costs, however it should be negated by fuel bill reduction.