Irish Electricity prices could plummet
Airtricity supplies more than 200,000 customers with cheaper electricity in the Republic of Ireland and as Ireland’s most reputable energy company - according to the Irish RepTrak 2010 (Ireland’s company reputation study) - the energy provider has been making headline news recently... Last week Airtricity, which already supplies electricity to business customers, announced that is was planning to enter the domestic gas market, creating up to 200 jobs, with approximately half of those at its headquarters in Sandyford, Co Dublin, see ... More
UK Waste To Be Sent Abroad For Burning
Britain’s growing rubbish mountain is being exported to Europe where it will be used as fuel to generate heat and power, reports The Daily Telegraph. Utility Exchange has reported in the past on the massive fines faced by the U.K. if it doesn’t reduce the amount of waste going to landfill see: http://www.utility-exchange.co.uk/2009/09/uk-will-not-achieve-eu-landfill-targets/. In order to overcome the ban on landfill Britain is going to export its waste to countries including Holland and Germany which have better recycling rates ... More
Energy suppliers’ new doorstep sales challenge
The UK's ‘Big Six’ energy suppliers - British Gas, EDF, E.ON, npower, Scottish Power and Scottish & Southern Energy – have all agreed to respect no cold calling zones and signage when it comes to doorstep selling – at the same time consumer groups are calling for big fines for those who break the rules. Consumer Focus - an organisation which fights for a fair deal for consumers, and the Trading Standards Institute – providing consumer information and practical advice, have ... More
Renewable Energy Must Do Better Says Huhne
The Secretary of State for Energy, Chris Huhne has said the current level of electricity generated from sources of renewable energy in Britain is a “scandal”, reports New Energy Focus. He said there was huge potential for the renewable energy sector. He was making the comments in the House of Commons yesterday and said the country needed to ensure it had a diverse energy mix to ensure its energy security and meet climate change goals. Mr Huhne said the U.K. had huge ... More
Microsoft Launch Energy Efficiency App
Microsoft has unveiled its brand new web-based application that has been designed to help people determine a home's energy efficiency. The Hohm Score application is able to provide a home's estimated energy efficiency based on its location and general size thus helping users to make more informed and eco-friendly decisions regarding the properties they purchase. Microsoft explained that Hohm Score works by calculating a home's efficiency level based on a comparison of the home's actual and potential energy efficiencies. It does ... More
Green IT boosts business energy efficiency
Companies can improve their business energy efficiency by utilising eco-friendly IT, claims an industry expert. According to Nathan Coutinho, a solutions manager at CDW – providers of IT product and services for business, green technology can significantly help firms reduce their business energy consumption and subsequently lower overall costs particularly as budgets remain tight. In an article for Computer World, Mr. Coutinho explained that there are a range of options firms can use to help improve their business energy efficiency, including ... More
Scientists Build Terraced House To Study Energy Use
Researchers at Salford University are set to re-create “Coronation Street” so that they can study energy use, reports The Guardian. Scientists studying energy efficiency will assess how people live and in order to do this they will rebuild a whole, redbrick terraced house inside a university laboratory’s sealed testing chamber. The terraced house will be a basic two up two down exactly the same as those which appear on Coronation Street. There are around two million similar houses still around in ... More
ScottishPower boosts Village Hydro Project
Residents of an eco conscious village in Powys, Wales, are set to benefit from green energy following a funding boost from the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust - which supports small scale community based environmental and educational renewable energy projects. The Green Valleys, which is a community-led environmental group based in South Wales, has been awarded £10,000 from the Trust, and this will be put towards the installation and maintenance of a brand new 16kw hydro electric generator in the small ... More
BT Charges £150,000 For Broadband
The previous Government was committed to getting everyone in the U.K. connected to broadband but this may be a problem when people come up against the following problem. BT has told a pensioner in Wales that it will cost her over £150,000 to get her connected to broadband, reports The Daily Telegraph. Mrs McCartney who lives in Salem, in Camarthenshire, said “it’s rural but not in the wilderness”. However, BT told her that to install broadband in her home it would cost ... More
Gas Off
Two of the UK's biggest energy companies have delayed plans to build two new gas-fired power plants as a result of weak power demand brought about by the global economic recession, reports Industrial Info Resources. E.ON AG has chosen not to go ahead with the planned Drakelow combined-cycle gas-turbine (CCGT) plant in Staffordshire, England for the time being and at the same time Scottish and Southern Energy Plc (SSE) has postponed the proposed Abernedd gas-fired plant at Baglan Bay in Wales. ... More