The Association for the Conservation of Energy
(ACE) has encouraged the government to take more of a stand on the subject of
energy-saving. The organisation represents some of Britain's leading industrial
names, including E.ON, Honeywell and Carillion, and have taken the step of
writing to the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Davey, in order to
express their concerns that the UK's electricity bills are not being tackled in
the way that they should. The letter urges the government to 'aim higher' and
use their upcoming enery bill in order to initiate huge change in the UK's
overall energy efficiency levels.
The bill as it currently stands allots £1bn to
energy companies to distribute in whatever way they believe might decrease
energy consumption or increase efficiency. This could be something as large as
building an energy-efficient power plant, or something as basic as fitting all
workplaces and headquarters with energy-saving lighting solutions. However, research provided by ACE, Green Alliance
and WWF has shown that this kind of investment is a mere drop in the ocean; a
similar amount allocated in the US only saw 3% of the total funds being
distributed in an effective way. Wth this amount, the organisations were only
likely to reduce energy demand by 10% each year. It is believed this figure
should be much higher, with the government aiming to put 'green' issues at the
very top of their agenda.
Investment in the energy infrastructure is not the
only way in which people, from households to headquarters, can contribute to
the energy-efficiency levels within the UK. Business owners can take steps to
reduce the carbon footprint of their own organisation by kitting out their
workplace with energy-saving light bulbs, and those within the home can choose
similar options, with environmentally-friendly LED light
bulbs also touted as great ways
to cut down on emissions for everyone in the country.
Replacing one energy-guzzling halogen light bulb
with a standard 4.5-watt LED light bulb can have potential electricity savings
of up to £145.80 over the course of the bulb's considerably lengthy life span.
This makes bulb replacement one of the most attractive and easy ways in which
everyone can contribute to reducing carbon footprints and electrical demand.
The bulbs use far less electricity than older models, and not only do they
offer savings for electricity bills on a domestic scale, they will also be
helping the country out on a national scale, whether the government follow
ACE's recommendations or not.
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