Government home energy ‘dithering’ could damage UK housing industry

Plans were supposed to be launched in April but have been delayed until the autumn

Experts have warned that delays to schemes to make new homes in the UK more energy efficient could damage the housing industry in the long run.

A timetable was drawn up to make sure all new homes were ‘zero-carbon’ by 2016, with an ‘uplift’ to current energy efficient was due to be introduced in April. However, those proposals have been delayed until the autumn, leaving workers in the construction industry in the dark over new housing projects. Many companies fear that money used to purchase new equipment and training will be wasted if the government doesn’t confirm its intentions and stick to its home energy efficiency targets.

Housing experts fear Government delays in home energy proposals are damaging the industry

(Image source - Telegraph)

Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy said companies and investors were growing increasingly concerned about the silence from government. "Companies have been going to the City to get investment, to enable them to meet the targets, do the training they need and create jobs, and they were doing so based on the timetable set out. If it doesn't happen on time, companies are vulnerable," he said. "This is the real world and I'm getting bored of explaining this to ministers. Business will waste time and money unless government delivers."

This lack of clarity and silence from the Government over the 2016 target, despite still official being dedicated to achieving it, is preventing the construction of new homes, as well as putting off new potential investors in the UK housing industry. A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said the government's timetable had always been to publish the regulations in spring and introduce them in the autumn, but industry experts said the original timetable had been an April introduction.

Britain exporting gas cheaper than it is importing it

Ofgem warns of UK energy security being 'undermined'

There are fears that household bills may continue to be inflated because of the fact that Britain is exporting gas that is fetching lower prices abroad and is importing gas from Qatar that is more expensive.

An analysis by the Guardian, conducted jointly with Greenpeace, revealed these figures, which Ofgem, the energy watchdog, believe may be undermining UK energy security because of this distortion in the market. The analysis examined the gas interconnector between the UK and Belgium; a major part of the country’s gas infrastructure, as it has the capacity to carry a fifth of the UK’s gas in winter. However, the report discovered that on over 40% of the days between December 2011 and October 2012, the gas was being exported to the continent despite the wholesale gas price in the UK being higher. Over this period, it is estimated that Britain exported over 15 times more gas than it imported.

Prices may continued to rise if market distortion isn't resolved, warn Ofgem

(Image source - www.offshoreenergytoday.com)

Analysis on monthly government data from Revenue and Customs showed that the UK was importing large amounts of Qatari gas, despite it costing up to 5% more than gas exported to the continent. Ofgem said ‘It is vital that gas on these links flows in line with market signals, to ensure security of supply for customers. However, initial analysis suggests the links are not always being used efficiently. On behalf of consumers, we are looking at all the evidence to establish the facts’. 

This news is the latest in a series of recent reports looking into the ‘dark and murky world’ (as described by Leila Dean of Greenpeace), of the UK’s gas market. In November, there were suggestions that, following the price hikes by the major energy companies, that gas prices were purposely being manipulated.

'Blackout Britain' in three years time?

Millions face ‘heat or eat’ choice as EU orders UK power plants to close

Britain will be hit by widespread blackouts in just three years time as a result of new EU regulations. Plans that mean nine coal-powered plants will have to close by 2015 to meet the EU’s green standards will cause Britain’s spare energy capacity to drop to just four percent, according to a report by energy watchdog Ofgem.

If the findings of the report come true, the country may become dependent on unreliable undersea cables that come from France, which could lead to scenes in Britain similar to the energy crisis of the 1970s, where the Conservative Government introduced a three-day week to conserve electricity.

As a result of these regulations, energy prices in the UK will most likely skyrocket if Britain has to rely on imported energy, which will leave more hard-working Britons out of pocket.

(To read the full story go to the Daily Mail.)