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A new scheme designed to increase green capital investment means incentive payments will be available to households from October 2012. The tariffs, called the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), involve payments being paid for 20 years based on every kilowatt hour of renewable heat produced. The government wants to reduce dependency on gas to reduce energy imports as well as cutting carbon emissions.

The official energy price enforcer is warning consumers they face gas price increases of up to 30 per cent before winter. Ofgem issued the grave statement after it found out wholesale prices for gas next winter have already risen by almost a third. The increase could add more than £200 to the typical energy bill.

People in rural areas are calling for a cut in fuel duty following soaring prices on the forecourt. A litre of unleaded petrol in the north west of Scotland currently costs 139.9p, and Paula Gordon, who runs the Sleepy Hollow Smokehouse in the area with her husband Alistair, is feeling the pinch from the fuel price pressures caused by the Middle East unrest. She said plans to raise fuel duty in the April budget would be “crippling” for firms in rural areas.

Commodity analysts at Japanese bank Nomura have warned that oil prices could perhaps strike $220 a barrel if the crisis in the Middle East continues. The market gurus compared the current situation to the 1990-1991 Gulf War, saying if Algeria and Libya were to halt oil production, prices could peak at the $220 mark. Others have given a more modest prediction of $150 if the unrest spreads. The average barrel price has surged beyond $120 in the past fortnight.

Military and business leaders in the USA warned that further oil price rises resulting from the Libyan revolt would mean a heavy burden on strained Pentagon budgets and the US economy. General Charles Wald, the former deputy commander of European Command, said each $10 rise in a barrel costs the Pentagon an additional $1.3bn. “You start adding a billion here, a billion there, and that is a huge amount of money being spent, even in military terms,” he said.

To support the construction industry, energy secretary Chris Huhne said that government policy will stop any ‘cowboy’ installers taking on jobs under the Green Deal, with registered tradespeople being given a quality mark to put customers’ minds at rest. The Energy Bill was introduced to Parliament last year and includes provision for a new Green Deal which the Government believes will revolutionise the energy efficiency of British properties.

Minister for energy Charles Hendry is urging the Office of Fair Trading to bring forward its review into the off-grid energy market. He said: “Underlying many of the complaints are concerns about the challenges of supplying oil and gas to rural communities and whether the current market structure provides the reassurance that consumers can get fuels for heating when needed at a price they can afford.” Many consumers during the winter complained of oil shortages.

A leading authority on public health says the system for calculating most domestic fuel bills in the UK is contributing to thousands of deaths each winter. The UK Public Health Association (UKPHA) says two-tier tariffs, where the first units cost more, hit the poorest hardest. UKPHA chairman Professor John Ashton says winter death rates are much higher in Britain than in Scandinavia.

Oil firms have shut down production due to the uprisings in Libya. The country usually produces 1.6 million barrels a day, making it Africa’s third largest producer after Nigeria and Angola. Most of this oil is being exported to Europe. Wintershall, the oil arm of German chemical group BASF, said it was cutting its 100,000 barrels a day output. It is the first time that a significant amount of production has been shut down since the tension started.

The coalition have today (Wednesday, December 8) introduced to parliament a bill to provide homeowners with four-figure loans to make their properties more energy-efficient. The energy security and green economy bill is expected to make power companies legally obliged to slash greenhouse gas emissions in their customers’ homes. Companies could be offering incentives, such as foreign holidays, for customers to take out ‘green deal’ loans.

Your heating bills could be costing £100s more per year than they need to be, says the UK energy regulator. Ofgem has released a series of video guides aimed at raising awareness of customers’ rights. They include dealing with doorstep sales people, and debt and disconnection.

Future oil drilling in the North Sea was dealt a blow after a high court judge said he would hear a legal challenge from campaigners Greenpeace over deep-water licences for drilling off the Scottish coast. This could see many projects blocked and existing licences quashed. It could put more pressure on the price of oil, which recently hit $120 a barrel during the Middle East crisis.