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The new coalition government is almost literally banking on the green vote as part of initiatives announced in the Queen’s speech. As well as promising a new energy bill in the next parliament, the Conservative and Liberal alliance said it would set up a green investment bank so that householders will be entitled to borrow money to pay for carbon-reducing measures. The idea is called a “pay-as-you-save” approach. Households would repay the loan using money saved through lower energy bills.

Manchester United footballer Gary Neville has submitted plans for a subterranean £6m carbon-zero home. It is due to go up next to the 12-bedroom property that he and his wife have already constructed on the site of the hamlet he owns in Harwood, in the Lancashire Pennines. The defender commissioned one of the country’s leading architects to come up with the design.

Average petrol prices spiralled to a record high of 120p a litre this month – and went even higher in remote communities. As well as ingenious individual and collective schemes (Liftshare.com promotes the use of car pools), HeatingSave is a more straightforward method of cutting a quarter from your fuel bills.

A new scheme has been launched in collaboration with businesses and the government to increase insulation in British Homes. The “Insulate Today” plan is part of the “we will if you will” campaign and is being backed by the Energy Saving Trust along with Accenture, Aviva, HSBC, Sainsbury“s ACT ON CO2 and EDF Energy. The scheme will include:

The coalition is making energy plans that will reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels. Moves to boost investment in renewable energy and nuclear power stations were set out by the Government as it promised to reduce Britain’s dependency on fossil fuels and cut carbon emissions. Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, pledged the “lights are not going to go out on my watch” as he announced 32 measures to make the country less reliant on imported oil and gas.

The HeatingSave House and Home system for domestic dwellings has obtained Government approval from DEFRA via the Carbon Trust. The prestigious Energy Technology List of approved products registers energy saving products that have been scientifically tested and proven to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions.

As from 1st September 2009 the manufacture and import of 100 watt and all frosted finished incandescent light bulbs will be banned in the EU as part of Europe”s bid to cut energy costs. The 100 watt light bulbs will be replaced by the energy-saving fluorescent variety. These are the compact fluorescent lamps commonly found in supermarkets. They use 80% less electricity than incandescent bulbs and last longer. The new rules will be extended to 75 watt bulbs from September 2010 and 60 watt bulbs from 2011.

Centrica, the UK”s biggest supplier of domestic energy has said that they expect the average price of home gas bills to go up from an average last year of £600 per household to over £1,000 this year. They say that gas prices are linked to the price of oil and that is the reason for increases.

Official government figures show almost 3 million vulnerable households have fallen into lnerable households have fallen into “fuel poverty” in 2006, showing an increase of  700,000 over the 2005 statistics. Fuel poverty is defined as households who spend more than 10% of their income on fuel.  

The increased cost in home heating recently as EDF Energy and British Gas put up their prices has not been equal across the UK, with some areas seeing bigger increases than others. Both companies claim that costs such as transportation have increased dramatically and in some cases now accounts for around 14% of the average central heating fuel bill.

Owners of British Gas, Centrica, have posted profits of £5m a day but despite this raised gas prices by 35% on Wednesday. Age Concern has warned that many pensioners will be unable to pay their winter fuel bills. As gas and oil production in the North Sea falls and the world wholesale prices continually rise, it will difficult for many hard-pressed consumers to save on their heating bills just by shopping around for the best supplier.

Gas and electricity prices in Britain have climbed twice as fast as the European Union average, according to new figures released on Wednesday. Gas and electricity rose by 29.7% in the past year, compared with a 15% increase for the EU. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics showed that German customers experienced a 12.2 percent price increase while their French counterparts saw their energy bills shoot up by 14 percent.