Brits are still paying for Christmas 2015: Tips to avoid festive financial folly
Sometimes, a Christmas hangover can be more than the effect of a few sherries. The financial effects can be felt until at least when the next year's festivities come around. Our new survey suggests that a quarter of Brits financed Christmas with credit, so given we collectively splurged £40bn on...
Distributed energy: a business case or a bigger case?
The Federation for Small Businesses (FSB) has come out strongly with a call for improved incentives and fewer barriers for smaller firms generating their own energy. The trade association talks of worries over security of supply, and with 88 per cent of its members not generating their own energy,...
TOU tariffs - are energy bill savings all about timing?
Variable tariffs based on when you use your energy have long been suggested as a means of helping to manage demand, while also offering a potential means to save money on bills. Now, they have arrived as an option for householders. They work with standard smart meters and have the potential to...
Electric vehicles: Green tech titans set out their stall for 2017
New Year always brings plenty of prognoses for the future – and it's perhaps an even bigger clamour in the technology industries. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas always provides plenty of futuristic food for thought – and this year, a highlight was the unveiling of a seriously fast...
Testing the association between homes and health
• New research to clarify fuel poverty-illness links • Biggest study of its kind looks at over 500,000 homes • Devon gets local focus Health and housing are the twin focuses of a promising new study bringing together University of Exeter Medical School with Energy Saving Trust, Devon and Cornwall...
Christmas renewable share shows 'green energy' potential
After the all-round shock to the system that was last year, we're all in need of some positive news to start 2017 – and it comes in the form of some belated good cheer from Christmas. Analysis by Drax shows that 40 per cent of electricity on Christmas Day came from renewable sources. A shining...
Shivering in winter: 7 top tips to make your home warmer
• Four out of ten of us are avoiding switching on the heating during colder spells due to fears about energy bills • A third are reporting they can't make their home as warm as they'd like • Winter woollies are filling the comfort gaps where heating systems aren't delivering the goods Warming...
Community energy success in South Wales
• Swansea solar scheme attracts local investors • Lasting benefits for deprived areas • Community energy's future under the microscope Good news from Swansea, where Swansea Community Energy and Enterprise , or SCEES for short, is enjoying a very successful community share offer for a new solar PV...
Five green inventions that could make a breakthrough
The international green economy is growing, throwing up plenty of new innovations that offer much promise for increasing energy efficiency, saving water and reducing fuel consumption. Here are five we've spotted recently. Double-efficiency solar panel Swiss experts have come up with the idea of...
Lights, camera, carbon reduction: a focus on UK television production
Sustainability and the business of making television and film don't, at first glance, appear like natural companions – but there's plenty going on to try and make more climate-conscious production a reality. The UK television industry has its own carbon calculator named albert , which was developed...