Energy savings should be in with the bricks
Anyone here remember Tony Blair? While one of the promises that Tony made when he became Prime Minister back in 1997 was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by the year 2020. With Tony just a fading memory 2020 is getting very close and there seems to be little sign of any real effort to clean up our environment in the UK.
Instead the opposite seems to be happening with pollution levels consistently on the rise, and with the reality of the UK's financial situation making Blair's forecasts and promises looking just so much hot air, with the growth of sustainable technologies severely hampered without the necessary government grants.
The single truth is that in order to curb the spread of global warming and reduce environmental pollution each UK home has to play its part and most of them are simply not equipped to do so. Research shows that the average UK home currently sends more than five tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, and with normal growth an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide produced by around 15 percent is predicted.
While the previous UK government as well as the current one have done all they can to increase energy efficiency, with grants to improve insulation and upgrade to more efficient boilers this may not be the core of the problem in the long term.
While it may be difficult if not impossible for the UK economy to help the public in approving energy efficiency in existing properties, with three million news homes estimated to be built before the end of the decade, it must be a priority for these homes to be fitted with sustainable energy alternatives, including solar panels, ground-sourced water and district heating systems. All of these energy saving features together in a home, and even one of them, would be enough to reduce emissions considerably.
These new UK households could expect to play so much less for their energy bills, whilst lighting and heating their homes efficiently and cleanly. It's always been the easiest step for a politician to cast reality into the future while convincing the public that a solution to the short term problem will soon be found. In the meantime UK families will have to do everything in their power to extract the maximum value from the energy they can afford to pay for and gradually invest in making their home as energy efficient as possible.
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