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An academic says rising energy bills are causing more fuel poverty deaths. Professor John Hills has called for a new definition of the issue, where people with low incomes are forced into poverty by high fuel bills. His report discovered that in 2004, fuel-poor households faced a shortfall of £256 to heat their homes and avoid poverty, but in 2009 the figure rose to £402.

Households have been encouraged to take additional measures including insulation to reduce their domestic fuel bills by organisations such as the Energy Saving Trust. According to Scottish Power’s website the average household will save £160 a year by installing loft and cavity wall insulation. This autumn the same company raised its gas price by 19% and electricity price by 10% – thus wiping out any savings.

The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland has led to the grounding of 63,000 European flights over the past four days. The eruptions from Eyjafjallajokull has saved 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than the annual emissions of many developing countries.

There is never a better time to be conscious about energy efficiency now that oil prices are returning to record levels after a temporary blip during the past week. So here are a few energy-saving tips that consumers cannot ignore, oil and other fuel bills are at unprecedented highs. Making your oil-fired boiler more efficient through better controls is a starting point.

A committee of MPs has just warned that the government is on course to fail to meet its own targets on reducing fuel poverty. The official definition of fuel poverty is “spending more than 10 per cent of household income on energy bills”. As the period between last December and March brought the coldest winter for a generation and fuel bills continue to rise, the committee’s findings do not really come as a surprise.

Protesters entered the headquarters of British Gas to demonstrate over fuel prices.

A House of Commons motion urging action on fuel prices was approved by MPs without a vote, but it is not binding on ministers. One of the MPs said the government should scrap a planned increase in fuel duty to help “hard-working, vulnerable Britons”. Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who tabled the motion, stated that the government must show it is one “that cuts taxes for millions of British people and not just for millionaires”.

Official figures this week reveal the number of households who are in ‘fuel poverty’ has more than doubled in the last five years because of soaring energy bills. A household is defined as being fuel poor if it has to spend 10 per cent or more of its income on paying to keep the home adequately warm. For many pensioners this is the largest bill they have to pay all year, so many are struggling to keep their homes warm. In 2003 the number of fuel poor households was two million, but it climbed to 4.5 million in 2008, according to the Department of Energy & Climate Change.

The Scottish government is using cutting-edge technology which will enable housing providers to pinpoint precisely where heat is being lost. Clyde Valley Housing Association is one of four Scottish associations taking part in the scheme which could be introduced countywide if successful. During the 15-month process, thermal imaging will be carried out by IRT Surveys of Dundee.

As experts doubt that pledges made at a United Nations summit in Copenhagen in December will actually deliver, it is no wonder people are concerned about the rise in greenhouse gases. On a domestic level, using new technology like a HeatingSave energy management system can cut down on central heating’s contribution to harmful emissions whilst saving money at the same time.

The Guardian newspaper is running a Lighter Later campaign to have the clocks permanently changed, adding that continuing to move the clocks forward in summer, so they become one hour ahead of British Summer Time and two hours ahead of GMT, could also deliver carbon savings. Research the paper has commissioned has been presented at an event at Parliament.

Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have been angered by the news that the Boiler Scrappage Scheme brought forward by the Scottish National Party (SNP) Government has run dry two days after its launch.