Friday June 27, 09:27 AM
Energy Plan: Your House Must Be Greener
By Sky News
Homeowners could be forced to improve the energy efficiency of their homes under new Government proposals. The plans will affect anyone renovating their home in a bid to meet the EU target of obtaining 15% of the country's energy from renewable
sources by 2020.And it will see some 7,000 new wind turbines built as well as a project that will cover land the size of Essex with trees or crops to produce biomass fuel. In the short term it will mean higher energy bills but Donachadh McCarthy, who created London's first carbon-negative home, says there are financial benefits. He sells more electricity to the National Grid than he pays for and added: "My gas bill last year was £12. "I'm in credit with my water company, so my day-to-day bills now are absolutely non-existent." So in order to make the plans profitable, the Government will have to increase the rate at which energy can be sold back to the Grid. They will also have to simplify planning applications for wind farms, which can add three years to a building project. Detractors argue the Government needs to do more to show commitment to rapid change. "We've got a fantastic renewable resource in the UK but we've done nothing with it for the past two decades," said Mike Childs, from Friends of the Earth. "So we have to see firm actions, we can't see more promises more consultations. We need to see firm pledges, legal changes and a breakthrough in terms of renewables in the UK." Time is running out for the Government, not only in the face of EU directives, but in a twin battle against climate change and spiralling oil prices.
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