A Focus on Solar Panel Installations With The Energy Efficiency Deployment Office Launch
Energy and Climate Secretary Edward Davey has officially launched the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office, giving a speech which focused on reducing energy consumption through technologies including solar panel installations by up to half by 2050 through the UK's biggest ever efficiency drive.
Mr Davey aims to improve peoples views and abilities to act upon energy consumption, making green technologies such as solar panel installations understandable and accessible through green initiatives and schemes such as the Green Deal. Green initiatives will have a huge role to play in the reduction of energy consumption and carbon production across the UK with solar panels and microgeneration technologies leading the way.
News on solar panels, microgeneration technologies and green news is delivered by Find Solar Panel Installers, one of the UK's biggest solar pv company directories and is provided by external sources including independent solar installers and Government bodies.
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Wed 8th Feb 2012 5:15pm - Speech by Energy and Climate Secretary Edward Davey on the launch of the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office
Thank you all for coming. It’s great to be here today, to launch the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office.
This is one of my first official engagements as Secretary of State. I could hardly pick a better place to get started.
Not just because we’re here in John Lewis, the model of responsible capitalism. But because I’m hugely enthusiastic about energy efficiency.
It’s the cheapest way of cutting carbon – and cutting bills for consumers. It has to be right at the heart of what we do.
That’s why the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office was set up. For the first time, we’ll be able draw on the expertise of a dedicated energy efficiency team.
A team with real experience and a clear job description: to help us deliver our existing policies, and find new ways to save energy, right across the economy.
We need this expertise now more than ever. Not only do we face a growing gap between energy supply and demand.
By 2050, we’ll need to cut our energy use by between a third and a half. And we’re about to begin the biggest energy efficiency drive this country has ever seen.
Later this year, the Green Deal will go live. And EEDO will help us deliver it, alongside our other energy saving policies:
Smart meters, to give consumers more control over their energy use.
The Renewable Heat Incentive, to change the way we generate and use heat.
And the Climate Change Levy and Climate Change Agreements, to encourage industry to save energy.
EEDO will be a centre of expertise: challenging our work, and providing analysis and evidence to support it.
But it also has a bigger goal. We need to make energy efficiency real and relevant to people’s everyday lives.
Saving energy ought to be easy. But for some households, it can seem overwhelming.
Two out of three consumers think their home is wasting energy. But only one in three is going to do anything about it.
Over a third of consumers don’t know that energy suppliers offer cheap insulation.
And two thirds of us don’t know what a smart meter does.For families facing higher bills, more efficiency could make a real difference. Homes without insulation could save hundreds by getting lofts lagged and walls treated.
For businesses, there are even bigger rewards on the table. But recent research suggests that when it comes to energy efficiency, too many executives lack confidence in the return on investment.
70% of businesses are planning investment in efficiency projects in the next three years. But one in three directors are unconvinced of the benefits. And one in four don’t even know what their annual energy bill is.
That has to change. We need to get out there and show people what energy efficiency can really do for them. The money it can save, the carbon it can offset, and the green growth opportunities it presents.
The Green Deal, for example, will bring jobs right across the skills spectrum – and right across the country. I want to see genuine competition, as local authorities and local businesses compete with national brands to bring energy saving deals to market.
It can help us deliver a fairer, greener economy. And help us get young people back into work – or into work for the first time.
Speaking of which, Monday was my first day on the job. At BRE’s Innovation Park, I spoke to graduates who are beginning careers in sustainable building.
It was inspiring: not just to see young people making a start in such an important sector. But because to them, saving energy is already normal.
In the long term, that’s what EEDO is for. To change the way we think about energy efficiency.
And although I’m only a few days into the job, I think we’re putting together a great team to do just that.
The Energy Efficiency Deployment Office might not have the same panoramic views as this building. But what it lacks in ambience, it will make up for in ambition.
And with that, let me hand you over to Greg, who will talk a little more about what we need from you.
Find out more about the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO)
Wed 8th Feb 2012 1:38pm - Written ministerial statement by Charles Hendry on the agenda for the Energy Council in Brussels
In advance of the forthcoming Energy Council in Brussels on 14 February, I am writing to outline the agenda items to be discussed.
The first substantive item on the agenda will be a debate on the proposal for a Regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure. The UK welcomes proposals to reduce investment barriers for energy infrastructure development and to build on best practice to help streamline permitting processes across the Union, particularly for cross-border projects. We recognise that considerable investment in energy infrastructure will be needed between now and 2020 to meet the agreed EU and UK core objectives of competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply as well as meeting the 2020 targets on renewables, energy efficiency and CO2 reduction. However, we have some concerns that in some areas the proposals and time-schedules appear overly prescriptive.
The Council will also hold a debate on the Europe 2020 Strategy, which will form the Energy Council’s contribution to the European Semester exercise (the EU initiative to improve economic policy coordination). The Council will consider the contribution of energy efficiency and renewable energy to growth and jobs.
The Presidency will then report on the progress of negotiation of the draft Directive on energy efficiency. Over lunch Ministers will discuss the remaining potential areas of concern in the draft Directive in terms of scope, requirements and implementation of the proposal and how they can be best addressed before negotiations begin with the European Parliament. We support the general level of ambition in the draft Directive although we have concerns over the level of prescription. We are pleased with the direction of discussions in Council, which reflects these concerns.
There will be reports by the Presidency on the progress of negotiations on the draft Decision on an information exchange mechanism on intergovernmental agreements and on preparations of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development. The Commission will report on the activities of the Electricity Coordination Group and on a number of international energy relations issues.
Wed 8th Feb 2012 10:57am - Davey puts energy saving at heart of strategy
A new offensive on cutting energy waste was launched by Edward Davey today, with the creation of a dedicated team within DECC assembled to spearhead energy efficiency policy and make it more relevant to people’s everyday lives.
The Energy and Climate Change Secretary today unveiled details of the new Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO) at a meeting with industry leaders at The John Lewis Partnerships’ Peter Jones store on Sloane Square, London.
In his first speech as Secretary of State, Mr Davey said:
“I’m hugely enthusiastic about energy efficiency. It’s the cheapest way of cutting carbon – and cutting bills for consumers. It has to be right at the heart of what we do.
“EEDO will be a centre of expertise, challenging our work and making energy efficiency real and relevant to people’s everyday lives. Two out of three consumers think their home is wasting energy, but only one in three is going to do anything about it. That has to change. We need to get out there and show people what energy efficiency can really do for them.
“The Green Deal will play a huge part in this work and will also support jobs in the insulation and construction industries– as many as 65,000 right across the country by 2015. It can help us deliver a fairer, greener economy. And help us get young people back into work – or into work for the first time.
“The UK has some of the most inefficient housing stock in the EU. But getting this right means as a nation we make energy savings over the next decade equivalent to two nuclear power stations while making everyone’s homes warmer and cheaper to run.
The 50-strong team, which will be based at DECC’s headquarters in London, will pull together expertise from across the Department. EEDO staff will continue to support the delivery of the Green Deal, the rollout of smart meters and the increase in renewable heat as well as developing a new energy efficiency strategy to identify the potential for further energy efficiency across the economy.
As well as having its own expertise, EEDO will work with leading industry experts to ensure we have the best possible evidence, analysis and policy response to this challenging agenda.
Today DECC is launching a call for evidence to help underpin the energy efficiency strategy.
Wed 8th Feb 2012 8:04am - Storage Within the Staircase
Brooklyn, New York-based Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture studio has solved the life-long problem of crammed apartments. This one is just 400 square feet and considering the owners use the flat both for living and working, accommodating a living space and home office was a big challenge. The solution? Integrated storage space, including storage built in [
Wed 8th Feb 2012 8:47pm - The rise of the solar airship
It’s the comeback of the dirigible as Canadian company designs a functional, agile and fossil-free range of solar hybrid airships.
New concepts keep coming out to boost faith in the future of airships. The latest sees Canadian company Solar Ship touting a proposed new range with electric motors, and a wing surface covered with solar photovoltaic arrays to charge their batteries.
Wed 8th Feb 2012 9:15am - Why we need carbon footprinting and labelling
Get the latest News from the Carbon Trust. A leading provider of specialist support to business and the public sector. Helping them cut carbon emissions, save energy and commercialise low carbon technologies. Visit our website www.carbontrust.co.uk for more information.
Wed 8th Feb 2012 11:55am - Building a lower carbon construction industry
Get the latest News from the Carbon Trust. A leading provider of specialist support to business and the public sector. Helping them cut carbon emissions, save energy and commercialise low carbon technologies. Visit our website www.carbontrust.co.uk for more information.
Wed 8th Feb 2012 12:49pm - Creating change through carbon footprinting
Darran Messem, Managing Director, Carbon Trust Certification, on the value of carbon reduction for businesses
Latest news and insights from the Carbon Trust, a not-for-profit group with the mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy. Visit our website www.carbontrust.com for more information.
Wed 8th Feb 2012 12:00am
