Generate your own free electricity

Like many people I love the idea of being able to generate my own electricity using the freely available wind and sun. Solar panels and wind turbines are great, with one exception, they cost a lot of money and the financial payback runs into many years. So for once the government did something sensible, they introduced a Feed In Tariff (FITs) scheme that offers enhanced payments for owners of renewable energy generation equipment such as solar panels, wind turbines and hydro power. Before the FITs a typical payback on solar panels could take as long as a massive 30 years, now you can expect to recover your money within around 10 years. See the video below where John Walsh from E.ON explains the FITs in more detail.

So while the FITs help reduce the time taken to recover your costs, there is still a major problem which is that you still need to find the money up front to buy the equipment, solar panels for a typical house will set you back somewhere around £10,000 for an average house and a wind turbine of a decent size could cost you up to an eye watering £75,000. I'll save the subject of small wind turbines for domestic properties for another post, but for now lets just say that small wind turbines in urban areas just don't work. So when I talk about wind turbines I'm referring to 10-15kW turbines that farmers or anyone with a decent amount of land might look to install.

So if you have access to spare cash and don't mind locking it into buying the equipment, everything is great - you get to generate your own electricity, be the green envy of your neighbours and as the icing on the cake get a tax free return of somewhere around 6-8%.

So what happens if you want to be green but don't have the cash? Or you have the cash but don't trust the government not to change the rules on the FITs over the 25 years that they run? Or would prefer to keep the money in savings where you can easily get at it for a rainy day? Or, quite simply you may be able to get a better return from your cash by investing it elsewhere, expanding your business for example or even investing in the stock market or your personal pension.

Green minded entrepreneurs spotted that there is a growing market for what has become known as 'rent a roof'. The business model is quite simple, they go to the bank and borrow around £13m (this is how much a company called A Shade Greener borrowed), they use that money to buy solar panels which they install on peoples roofs and pay back the bank with the money from the FITs. At some point in the future they will have repaid the loan (probably around 10 years) after which they start to make a profit.

So if you rent your roof whats in it for you? Well, if for example you live in a average semi you might save somewhere around £100 - £150 a year off your electric bill. You don't have to find the up front cash and you don't have to worry about expensive repair bills if any of the equipment fails. You will need to sign a 25 year contract with the rent a roof company so before signing up think about if you are likely to move in the near future or if you might want to do any building work, in particular a loft conversion.

So what about wind turbines? Well if you have a typical house in an urban area then forget it, wind turbines just don't work in cities and towns. If you have some land, maybe a farm or a couple of acres out in the country then a wind turbine from Solarventus could be just the ticket. It looks like they use the Gaia wind turbine which is an expensive but well built turbine. With a wind turbine at that sort of size you could probably save somewhere around £1,000 - £2,000 a year on your electric bill.

So everyone can now do their bit to get the UK greener and help stop our ever increasing imports of energy. If you live in a town or urban area with a south facing roof then solar panels will be a great choice. If you have the money spare then you can buy them yourself, if not then a company such as A Shade Greener may be able to help. Out in the country and got some land? Then a wind turbine could be the way to go.

We recommend visiting the Energy Saving Trust website for further information on energy saving, the Feed In Tariffs and some impartial advice on the free schemes.

Water 4 Gas - I'll Tell You the Secrets for Free

With rising fuel prices, the global economic downturn, peak oil and concerns over energy security, motorists are increasinly looking for ways to improve mpg. And when people are getting desperate they become vulnerable to the various scams that sadly plague the Internet. One such scam is the various 'water 4 gas' systems that claim you can increase your mpg with a device that produces 'Browns Gas" or HHO - a gas that consists of 2 of two atoms of hyrdogen for every atom of of oxygen. The gas is produced by electrolysis of water using the electrical energy produced by the cars charging system.

So does it work? In my opinion, no it doesn't! Here's why, and its quite simple - the first law of thermodynamics states that "energy cannot be created or destroyed" sorry, there's no such thing as a free lunch! If anything the inefficiencies in the system mean that one of these devices will potentially reduce your mpg! All the energy used to drive your car engine comes from the petrol or diesel fuel. Some of that energy is used to drive the alternator which in turn produces electrical energy, which in turn is used to produce the HHO gas. Each time the energy goes thorugh a conversion process there will be some losses, either way the net energy at the end will be less than when you started.

There is only one possible way in which this might work and that is if it can increase the efficiency of the engine. However, given that modern engines are already very efficient this is highly unlikely. If such a simple idea then car manufacturers would be using it today in their cars. Dont listen to all the rubbish spouted about car makers and oil companies suppressing technology! Car makers want to sell cars and make money, these days efficiency sells cars and manufacturers are doing all they can to improve in this area.

If you want to improve your mpg, I'll tell you for free. No need to sign up, no need to register, no ned to read an e-book - its right here for you to read, in my top tips for improving your mpg and saviong money.


1 - Use the car less. How easy is that! While your car is sitting on your drive it isnt using any fuel or costing you any money. Try to combine your journey when possible, if its a nice day then why not walk or even take a bike ride(link)? Walking and cycling (link) can be very enjoyable and much less stressful than driving.

2 - Next time you change your car look for a model with higher mpg. Most people change their cars at some point, when you do consider the mpg or CO2 figures (link).

3 - Make sure your tyres are correctly inflated. Under or over inflated tyres are dangerous, check your tyre pressures weekly. Under inflated tyres will increase your fuel consumption.

4 - Keep your speed down. Your car will be much more efficient at 60mph than at 70mph.

5 - Read the road ahead. There's little point in accelerating towards a red traffic light. Try to keep your driving smooth and consistent.

6 - Keep your car well serviced. A well maintained car will be safer and more efficient than a poorly serviced one.

7 - Air con - its better to keep it on rather than have a window wound down.


I hope you find these tips useful, feel free to add some of your own via the comments.

The Eco-house Manual - Environmentally Friendly Home Improvements

While Haynes are best known for their car manuals, they have branched out with manuals to cover a huge range of topics. Understandably the Eco-house manual caught my attention.

This manual covers every aspect of domestic renovation from heating and electrical systems through to building materials and outdoor space. Whether you want to work out the payback period on a wind turbine or find out about the most eco-friendly floor covering, all information is presented in a clear and practical format with colour photography throughout. With up-do-date information about emerging renewable sources of power, along with step-by-step projects for the home and garden, this will be an invaluable resource for all home owners.


Available to buy online from Amazon - click here to go to Amazon.

Car Tax - The Right Idea Implemented Badly

The 2008 Budget

The 2008 budget introduced some significant changes to the current car tax (vehicle excise duty or VED) aimed at encouraging drivers to buy more fuel efficient cars. However, the changes have been widely criticised as being nothing more than a green smokescreen and way of increasing revenue. In principal the idea is sound and even some of the most hardened petrol heads agree that we need to do what we can to reduce our emissions. So why are the changes causing such a fuss?

Who is affected?

The biggest issue with the changes is that the tax changes are being applied retrospectively. So anyone who drives a car first registered between March 2001 and March 2006 that emits more than 186g of carbon dioxide per kilometre will see their tax go up from £210 to £300 next year and then £430 in 2010. Ok, so what if the drivers of gas guzzlers have to pay more? The first issue is that this affects some pretty average cars, such as the Ford Mondeo or people carriers owned by families.

Effects on Second Hand Values

The tax changes are starting to have an impact on the second hand values of those cars most affected by the changes. Again you could argue that it doesn't matter, don't we want those cars to be worthless so they are scrapped and no longer in use? The problem here is that this may end up having the opposite effect to what was intended. The price of gas guzzlers goes down but due to increased demand the price of efficient cars goes up. This makes it much harder for people to change to a more fuel efficient car. The second thing to consider is that it will be many years before the gas guzzlers end up in the scrapyard. As the guzzlers become cheaper to buy people will use the money saved on the purchase cost to offset the additional tax.

An unfair tax

Traditionally governments avoid retrospective taxes, so it was a big surprise that the current government committed what amounts to political suicide by bringing in these highly unpopular changes. We need to take bold actions to curb our carbon dioxide emissions, but imposing a financial penalty on drivers who bought their cars many years ago is unfair in the extreme. Applying the changes retrospectively was also unnecessary, as what really counts is the sales of new cars. By changing the tax bands for new cars we can start to improve the efficiency of the cars on the road in a much fairer and sensible way.

Sending the wrong message

These tax changes give the wrong message, they associate being green with higher taxes, this should not be the case. Rather than penalise people for not being green shouldn't we reward those who are being green? Even Friends of the Earth said it gives green taxes "a bad name".

Size doesn't matter

A Range Rover that covers 1,000 miles a year will emit less Co2 than a Ford Fiesta that covers 20,000 miles a year. So maybe a fairer approach would be to increase fuel duty, however, it will take a bold government to implement such changes as they will certainly be highly unpopular.

Correct approach

The approach of having a variable tax depending on how much pollution cars cause is a sensible one and fits with the idea that "the polluter pays". Often the best way to modify the behaviour of a population is via taxes and we are starting to see the results. Sales of SUVs and 4x4s are down, while demand for the Toyota Prius is higher than higher. While it doesn't mean that gas guzzlers will disappear overnight, it will reduce their lifespan as they will become un-economical to maintain that little bit sooner. If applied correctly and in line with other policies such as improved public transport and sensible fuel duties then it should be a highly effective means to encourage the move to more fuel efficient means of transport.

climate sceptics - the top 10 arguements

Climate sceptics - those who think they know better than thousands of highly educated and trained scientists are a rather predictable bunch. The BBC website has a great page where they list the top ten arguements and the reason why they are wrong.

It's well worth a read and you can find it here

Energy Auditors

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts has announced the launch of an aggressive privately funded energy efficiency programme. Costing $70 million it is intended to help fight global warming.

They are taking a pro-active approach and will offer free energy audits to residents in the city, this includes private and commercial properties. The aim is cut the cities electricity consumption by 10 percent so that by 2011 their CO2 emissions will be reduced by 150 thousand tonnes each year.

Douglas Foy, a consultant with the non-profit Cambridge Energy Alliance which is heading the programme said "You can do a number of small things and reduce your carbon footprint dramatically"

We agree completely with Foy. Now all we need to do is encourage and educate people that we can make a difference and it can save you money at the same time!

The Cost of Power

World domination? George Bush and his thirst for eastern oil? Some sort of evil plot that only James Bond could solve?

Well, you should take the title of this post literally, I really am talking about the cost of power, or to be specific the cost of electricity. I believe that the financial cost of something is also a good indication as to the environmental cost.

So to give you an idea of what costs the most around your home I've done some maths to work out what it costs per year.

Heating (based on 6 months) £191

Showers £73

Making Tea £36.50

Washing Machine £32.76

Cooker £51.10

Watching TV £146

Lighting £109.50

The two things that surprise me the most are how much the lighting costs and that it costs more to make tea than do the washing!