Baxi Boiler Group is calling for co-ordinated thinking when it comes to the Government’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Target scheme, commonly known as CERT.

Whole home efficiency solutions will, says the Baxi Boiler Group, help to both reduce fuel poverty and reach the required level of carbon savings. CERT, which began in April 2008, has placed a 3 year obligation on energy suppliers to meet household targets in carbon saving, targets that are widely perceived as very ambitious.

CERT, as a carbon saving scheme, have given suppliers these targets to promote carbon saving ideas. Ways in which suppliers can meet these targets include promotion of energy saving measures, such as loft and cavity wall insulating, and more efficient heating and lighting.

CERT has accomplished savings that total to 149 Mt CO2, which is around 81% of its 185 Mt CO2 target. Whilst 905 of these savings come from improvements and insulation and lighting, only 43% came from priority groups. With heating measures, a small growth was recorded at 8.5 Mt CO2, with appliances and microgeneration also behind on 5.5 and 0.66 Mt CO2 (respectively).

Simon Osborne, Baxi Group’s Channel Specification Manager, says, “CERT is an important mechanism for delivering efficient improvements in the home. Clearly, installing high efficiency appliances in leaky, poorly insulated dwellings is not the right approach. However, energy efficient boilers, and microgeneration applications in particular, should be playing a greater role as part of a co-ordinated CERT response with cuts carbon emissions with the whole building envelope.”

It is not only the boiler companies and CERT that should be addressing these targets though. “It is important also for Government and the energy suppliers to address the targeting of the scheme. At present, the priority groups most likely to be affected by issues of fuel poverty are not receiving sufficient support through CERT,” adds Simon Osborne.

The call from groups such as the Baxi Boiler Group is one of a more rounded approach, with a wider outlook into cutting carbon emissions.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

British Gas heating has launched a second version of its popular iPhone App.

The newest version App has promised to make it even easier for customers of British Gas heating to check their energy use, track their energy bills, and to avoid estimated bills by submitting meter readings.

The popularity of the app has shown in the numbers; around 100,000 customers have downloaded the App since its release in November. The App made British Gas the first UK energy company to offer such a piece of technology for customers.

Through their iPhones, iPods and iPads, there have been 18000 customers submitting meter readings in the month of June. This second version only increases its handiness and usefulness to any energy consumer: customers can now view their account’s balance, see the amount of their last bill and check when the next is due. Graphs can also be personalised to show their energy consumption.

One of the most popular aspects of the App has been the email facility, allowing customers to email British Gas with queries and questions, giving them a handy way to get in touch with their energy provider.

Head of Online services, Benjamin Braun, says, “The British Gas iPhone App has quickly caught the imagination of our smart phone-savvy customers, who increasingly rely on it to provide a quick and simple way to submit meter readings.

“More customers already contact us over the web than by telephone and with these new features, we expect that our App will quickly become the main way that many of our iPhone customers will manage their British Gas account.”

Not only is British Gas heating the first to provide such a service to its regular customers, it is now the first to provide similar technology to its business customers. It has now rolled out a meter reading application that allows businesses to see their gas and electricity readings and update their bills.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Coalition Minister Chris Huhne has told The Sunday Telegraph that he’s in favour of wind power as a way of solving the country’s looming energy crisis.

He said that more should be done to harness both offshore and onshore wind power. And these comments are being made against a backdrop of the UK having to currently import around 27% of its energy.

In a situation likely to put pressure on the new coalition, the Energy Secretary made clear his feelings that there was no money for state subsidies in order to build a new generation of nuclear plants. This was the idea which was the preferred way out of the energy crisis for both the Conservative and Labour parties.

And it’s not just a question of the Liberal Democrats being ‘coerced’ into voting for the nuclear power option. As part of the coalition agreement, they are allowed to abstain whenever a vote is taken in Parliament on funding for nuclear power.

Mr Huhne also said that he was a big supporter of electric cars. His comments were part of his general strategy to see that the UK becomes far more independent in terms of producing its own energy. This, he said, would allow the country to withstand external influences, including conflict, that usually send prices rocketing. He argues that the UK cannot survive on oil and gas which is running out.

He said that given the nightmare with planning issues, the best way forward was likely to be offshore wind farms. He told the newspaper:
“Offshore wind, I think partly as a result of fewer planning issues, is likely to be an important part of our energy independence going forward.

“We have a tremendous natural resource in the Dogger Bank, which is an enormous shallow area of the North Sea, the same size as Wales.

“It’s relatively cheap to put wind turbines in that shallow area. It’s beautifully windy so it does actually produce a lot of electricity – that is a really important natural resource for us.”

Yet of the 235 wind farms currently in operation, only 12 are operating offshore. Potentially, these farms have the capacity to generate over 4,000 mega watts of electricity, yet rarely reach that level as the wind is not consistent. As for the future, some five offshore farms are currently in construction, 27 onshore are being built and a further 468 farms are being planned.

As for nuclear power, Mr Huhne said:
“We basically said exactly the same as Labour on the point about no public subsidy. I suspect the difference is that we mean it. I suspect that new nuclear will go ahead. Investors are telling me very strongly that they expect to be able to go ahead given the framework we can put in place.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Energy supplier British gas has come with an energy efficiency initiative that is designed to help some of the country’s 50,000 most hard-pressed households cut their bills.

And the energy efficiency initiatives come in the form of assessments and schemes (such as loft insulation) which could cut the average bill by around £250 a year. Some £10 million has been allocated to the scheme.

And British Gas reckon that as well as making savings in terms of their bills, households will also be helping the environment, saving an estimated 10,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

The boss of British Gas, Phil Bentley, said:
“Improving energy efficiency in our homes is the quickest way to cut our bills and lower carbon emissions. And this initiative will particularly help our most vulnerable and hard-pressed families.

“By targeting free energy assessments and other measures at those who need it most, we can make a real difference to the quality of their lives and do our bit for the planet at the same time.”

Working alongside British Gas will be a number of charities including the Money Advice Trust and Scope, the RNIB and the National Energy Action. Local MPs will also be on hand to provide advice and ensure that the energy initiatives are properly targeted.

Those eligible for the scheme include British Gas customers who are aged over 70, or those who are receiving income, or disability benefits.

Coming within the scheme’s remit is a major energy efficiency survey of the household. This will include an insulation survey, as well as a printed and personalised energy assessment (which comes complete with behavioural pattern assessments). Free products will range from standby savers, to energy monitors and insulation products.

This energy efficiency announcement from British Gas is one of a number of initiatives including £15 million of solar panels for up to 750 schools.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Act now says nPower, otherwise risk facing penalties of a financial and reputational nature.

The stark warning from the energy giant comes because it believes that many companies and public sector organisations are just not ready for the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme deadlines.

nPower has issued its advice after the Environment Agency confirmed that of those companies and organisations which will included in full in the scheme, less than 10% have bothered to register. By 21 June, only 447 out of a total of 5,000 of those companies expected to participate in the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme had signed up.

And if they don’t register by the first deadline of 31 July, 2010, one of the big advantages they’ll miss out on is being able to register dissimilar businesses within the same group. This is a concession that nowadays many industrial conglomerates are made up of very different subsidiaries in varying business sectors and that they should be treated as individual entities. This is known as the disaggregation option.

Head of business energy services at nPower, Dave Lewis, said:
“The disaggregation option might seem like a simple administrative task, but it could potentially be a valuable route for many businesses. CRC participation is typically established at a group level, but being able to register companies separately could make collating data and submitting ongoing evidence packs simpler.

“There’s also the reputational benefits to consider. If the parent company’s name is little known publicly, for example, it could miss out on the brand value of a high position in the Carbon Reduction Commitment league table.

“Bearing in mind the registrations that have been completed to date, we expect many to miss out on disaggregation, and instead be faced with managing Carbon Reduction Commitment at a group level. This will bring its own challenges as data will need to be compiled and submitted for the whole group.

“The slow rate of registration so far also indicates that many organisations may not be actively tracking their energy use from 1st April this year in preparation for the year end footprint report. The longer organisations take to track this, the more challenging the task will become.”

And the penalties for not signing up to the scheme are quite severe. For those companies and organisations who miss the final deadline of 30 September, 2010, a fine of £5,000 will be levied. And a further £500 will be charged every working day past the 30 September deadline, subject to a maximum 80 days.

Guest Article by Neil Camp