The Renewable Heat Incentive

It is just not possible to run a renewable heat business in the United Kingdom.  Government politicians Mr Greg Barker and Mr Ed Davey who are in charge of renewable heat policies simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth when they publish a plan and they certainly cannot be trusted to stick to their announcement. You cannot simply believe anything that the Department of Energy and Climate Change publishes on its website about its plans for the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Energy Prices Will Rise but the Problem is More than Rising Prices

The British consumers of energy, both domestic and industrial, face the inevitability of even higher energy prices over the next few years. At the moment electricity prices are about the same in the United Kingdom as they are in continental Europe, but natural gas prices are just over half the price of natural gas. All that is going to change and if you feel that you are paying far more than you envisaged for energy now, then you will have to budget more carefully in several years’ time.

Ignorance is Everywhere

Ignorance is everywhere but in some places it is more deeply spread than in others and on some topics, such as the environmental protection I can find myself in despair about the ignorance.  Fox News is a good example, although it is not unique. I have seen similar ignorance displayed on the BBC and by the Advertising Standards Authority. Some may be well educated but education does not make you smart.

The following is a good and recent example of what I mean.

The Shrinkage of the Green Economy

Mr Stern now thinks that he understated the consequences of climate change when he wrote his report. He also thinks that the government should engage the private sector in developing economic growth without increasing emissions. I cannot disagree but is not that what the government has been pretending to do for the past four years?

Wind Turbines and the foolishness of subsidising them

About ten miles north of Ramsgate, in the middle of the Thames Estuary some 175 offshore wind turbines have been installed and are now operating, as wind turbines operate, in their own misunderstood fashion. If it is windy, and not too windy, the turbines generate electricity. The publicity claims that the wind turbines will generate enough electricity for 470,000 homes but the publicity is imprecise. There are only 22.5 million homes in the United Kingdom and to power them all will need another 50 arrays of similar turbines but unfortunately it is not as simple as that.

Time to Kick Start the Renewable Heat Incentive?

I do not have much time to write a considered essay today, Luckily I have a lot of work to do and tonight will listen to what Mr Greg Barker, the Minister responsible for the Renewable Heat incentive, has to say about it. There will be many people concerned in microgeneration that will listen with interest to what he says. 

How to Save on Fuel Bills: Solar Water Heating

The Government of the United Kingdom has announced that it will enact legislation to force energy companies to offer no more than four tariffs and to advise their customers of the cheapest tariff. At a time when energy companies are making record profits from record margins the change is long overdue. Sometime son energy companies will no longer be able to confuse customers with a plethora of tariffs and they will be forced to abandon the so called legacy tariffs under which someone that has not to time or to skill to understand that the tariff they are paying is ridiculously high.

The Rationale for Green Policies

It seems that many people are blaming green policies for high energy costs and all our present economic woes. Green policies seem to be a convenient scapegoat. However there are good reasons why green policies should be continued, but I write those words on the basis that not all policies that pretend to be “green” are in fact useful or helpful for environmental protection.

Mindless Renewable Energy Targets

In the almost mindless race to meet the United Kingdom’s emission targets the government has decided to subsidise, at taxpayer’s expense, the generation of electricity in a way which will mean the creation of far more greenhouse gas emissions.

Get the Government to pay you for heating your home’s water with Genersys Solar

Just in time for the cold weather British Gas is raising its prices by more than 8% for gas and electricity consumed by domestic residential households. I had personally expected that shame would probably keep the big energy companies from holding back their price rises until after Christmas, but I was wrong.