Author Archives: Admin

Institute of Fiscal Studies Winter Fuel Payments Research

8 June 2011: Two papers published today (link to press release) by the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that:

  • Households receiving the winter fuel payment are almost 14 times as likely to spend the money on fuel than would have been the case had their incomes been increased in other ways;
  • But in very cold weather it remains the case that the poorest pensioners cut back on spending on food to finance the additional cost of heating their homes.

IFS reports Cash by any other name? Evidence on labelling from the UK Winter Fuel Payment and Is there a “heat or eat” trade-off in the UK?

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Is there a “heat or eat” trade-off in the UK?

8 June 2011Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research presents detailed household level expenditure data from older households merged with historical local weather information. The report looks to test “whether there is a  a heat or eat trade off: do households cut back on food spending to finance the additional cost of keeping warm during cold shocks? We find evidence that the poorest of older households are unable to smooth spending over the worst temperature shocks.”

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London: Garden City?

London Wildlife Trust8 June 2011: A study by the London Wildlife Trust revealing that London’s gardens – which make up nearly a quarter of Greater London – are changing from green to grey. These losses have implications for London’s wildlife and our ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change. A summary of the report, London:Garden City?, is available here.

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Emissions rise at UK universities

7 June 2011: The People & Planet Green League 2011 assessed the environmental and ethical performance of 142 universities, and has estimated that  carbon emissions at 139 universities rose by 3.9% between 2005 and 2010, even though capital funding for English institutions is now linked to reductions.

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Missing the Mark – consumers, energy bill, annual statements and behaviour change

Consumer Focus7 June 2011: A new report from the Consumer Focus entitled ‘Missing the Mark – consumers, energy bill, annual statements and behaviour change’ (see bottom of page for link). This looks at the role of information on consumers’ bills and annual statements and the potential this has to help consumers. The research identifies a number of limitations in the effectiveness of this information in nudging behavioural change in consumers.

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Waltham Forest Home Retrofit Project

June 2011: Profile of a home energy efficiency refurbishment project being undertaken by Waltham Forest. ‘Green Home’ case study available here.

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Heat efficient Holborn

6 June 2011: inmidtown – which represents the interests of 560 businesses in Holborn, Bloomsbury and St Giles – is working with Camden to explore opportunities to increase the use of decentralised energy in the area by linking heat loads together. Further information on their energy sharing initiative here.

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Londoners in the dark over efficiency cost savings

6 June 2011: According to new research from energy company E.ONBrits place saving money on their energy bill as their top household budgeting priority, however, many people are in the dark when it comes to understanding the true savings that can be made“. E.ON’s ‘Energy Saving Savviness‘ survey indicated that only 30% or so of Londoners correctly identified the financial savings from being energy efficient

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London councillors asked to ‘plan local’

2 June 2011: Organised by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) in partnership with Urban Forum, an event was held for London councillors to learn more about different renewable technologies and how they could support their communities in developing locally owned renewable energy projects – and therefore generate local energy and income streams. Further information on the workshop and how to run a similar event locally available here.

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Making a case for national heat mapping

1 June 2011: Article highlighting London’s Decentralised Energy Master Planning (DEMaP) programme, which has led to the production of the London Heat Map.

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Islington seeks partners for solar panel drive on council stock

31 May 2011: Islington is seeking one or more partners to install photovoltaic (PV) panels on roofs of council properties for a 25-year period, at no cost to the council or taxpayers.

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More green space needed to tackle urban warming

31 May 2011: The impact of urban climate change could be reduced by as much as 2.5°C by increasing the amount of green space in town and cities. RICS paper (subscriber only unfortunately) highlighting that by removing just ten per cent of the green space from a built-up area could see maximum temperatures increase by as much as 7°C.

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