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Domestic green power - a realistic energy alternative?

Posted on Wednesday, 04 June 2008 09:45AM by
The UK lags behind the rest of Europe when it comes to householders producing their own energy, even though it is possible for homes to produce power using solar panels and other renewable energy equipment.  A new government-backed report published this week concludes that within the next 12 years one million British homes could be making their own clean energy; enough power to replace five large nuclear power stations.  The report also states that by 2030 this would save the amount of carbon emissions equal to taking all Britain’s lorries and buses off the roads.
 

The report echoes Conservative Party policies announced recently to start "a decentralised energy revolution" by "enabling every small business, every local school, every local hospital, and every household in the country to generate electricity".  The Prime Minister, on the contrary, has indicated that he is in favour of increasing the number of atomic power stations to be built in Britain!
The old Department of Trade and Industry has traditionally been against renewable energy and microgeneration, as the thought of allowing millions of ordinary people to affect energy supplies by generating their own heat and power almost scared them to death.  The biggest problem always facing British householders wanting to generate their own energy is the lack of government grants available to help implement the systems.  The result of this is that the UK is now almost at the bottom of the European league, with renewable energy and microgeneration accounting for a measly 4% of electricity compared to 14% in Germany.  About 100,000 British homes have microgeneration, whilst in Germany more than a million homes have solar panels to heat water.
 

The new report suggests that Britain takes the same approach as Germany, where householders are paid for feeding the electricity they produce from microgeneration into the national grid. At least 15 other European countries have also adopted this policy very successfully.  Will the UK follow suit?
 

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