The Green Deal explained

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

This is a guest post by energy and climate change consultant Paula Owen 

 

The government’s Green Deal for energy efficiency is a bit of a tricky one to describe to the uninitiated. Indeed, it’s sometimes hard to explain to energy savvy folk too!

So myself and the guys from explanimation.net created an ‘explanimation’ – a short animated film that explains a complex idea simply – about the Green Deal. We had our work cut out trying to explain the scheme in this way, puzzling over a simple way of explaining that the loan is attached to a house rather than the householders, or that people pay through their electricity bill for scheme that generally saves money on gas.

Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Communications, Energy demand, Policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Making the circular economy a reality

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

This post is by Green Alliance associate Julie Hill.

We held the final meeting of our Designing Out Waste business consortium last week.  In the words of one of the companies, with this work we ‘led the debate from designing out waste to the concept of the circular economy’.  Now we want to take the circular economy concept, where resources are properly valued and retained usefully in the economy for as long as possible, from an idea to reality. 

As our presentation (DoW_CE_17.5.12) at the meeting showed, there is already some leadership towards this goal, from UK’s devolved governments, the EU and businesses, but progress is still partial and fragmented.  Continue reading →

Posted in Circular Economy, Policy, Recycling, Resources, The scale of the challenge | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The energy bill must provide certainty for investors

Posted on May 23, 2012 by

A version of this article by Green Alliance director Matthew Spencer first appeared on BusinessGreen.

The energy bill maintains the government’s track record of private enthusiasm and public reticence on its low carbon reform agenda. The Coalition appears to have maintained interdepartmental and cross-party support for electricity market reform, but has missed the opportunity to be clear about its low carbon ambitions. As a result it is losing support for reforms which had widespread acceptance two years ago, and the debate has deteriorated into hand to hand fighting between lobbies for renewables, nuclear and unabated gas.

Officials and ministers have spent two years wrestling with the complexity of the new contracting and institutional arrangements, but the draft bill shows that they do not yet have an answer to the most basic question: ‘What is the bill supposed to deliver, and by when?’ Continue reading →

Posted in Energy demand, Green economy, Low carbon energy, Policy, The scale of the challenge | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The case for an energy ‘mega-brand’

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Solitaire Townsend, co-founder of sustainability communications agency Futerra

When Clement Atlee was asked how Churchill won the war, the answer was “He talked about it”.

This quote opened last Monday’s launch of Green Alliance’s new report Neither Sermons Nor Silence: The Case For National Communications On Energy Use. The report has a single clear theme: it’s time for government to get back to communicating. Especially on energy and climate change. Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Beyond nudge, Business, Communications, Energy demand, Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Government needs a national communications plan for energy efficiency

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

“[Consumers will] want a joined up experience of the government’s energy policies, regardless of the individual policy mechanisms and their origin.”

This quote could so easily have come from the report that Faye Scott and I wrote for Green Alliance that was published this week. Neither Sermons nor silence: the case for national communications on energy use argued for a joined-up national communications strategy for all household energy policies. But these quotes didn’t come from our report, they came from DECC, from their recent consultation on how to engage consumers on the smart meter roll out. Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Beyond nudge, Big Society, Communications, Energy demand | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Progressive business must speak out and collaborate for a sustainable future

Posted on May 16, 2012 by

This article is by Thomas Lingard, global advocacy director at Unilever and former deputy director at Green Alliance. It first appeared on Guardian Sustainable Business. 

Silence on climate change and sustainability is not an abstention from the debate, it’s an abdication of responsibility for which no amount of other corporate good deeds can compensate.

What was clear from the outset of Unilever’s ambitious Sustainable Living Plan was that it could not be delivered by one organisation in isolation. It requires collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders on a whole range of issues. But one type of collaboration less well understood is the relationship between progressive business and governments who are trying to rewrite the rules of the game to align both the short and long term business interests with the creation of a low carbon world and promotion of sustainable living. Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Business, The scale of the challenge | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Should the government advertise the “green switchover”?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

This article is by James Murray and first appeared on BusinessGreen. It covers today’s launch of our new report Neither sermons nor silence: the case for national communications on energy use.

The government will today be called on to relax its ban on advertising spend and commission a national communications campaign to drive adoption of upcoming green initiatives, such as the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme, the smart meter rollout, and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

The recommendation is the centrepiece of a new report from Green Alliance, backed by a number of high profile firms including Scottish Power, Asda, Kellogg’s, Groundwork, PepsiCo, which argues that a government-orchestrated campaign is essential to ensure the success of the coalition’s flagship green policies. Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, Energy demand, Low carbon energy | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Government’s £40bn savings subsidies must encourage responsible investment

Posted on May 9, 2012 by

This post is by Green Alliance associate Chris Hewett, based on a new report Saving for a sustainable future, published today.

The post-Budget row over tax relief for charitable giving has obscured the fact that there are many other tax reliefs given for savings and investment activity. Indeed, the government currently subsidises savings and investments by nearly £40 billion each year in Pension Tax Relief, Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) allowances and Capital Gains Tax relief for residential property sales.  Rather than arguing over whether these should be capped, Green Alliance has been looking at how government might use these subsidies to encourage more responsible investment and transparent banking. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Fresh thoughts, Green economy, Policy, The economic crisis | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Low carbon businesses must speak up in the political debate

Posted on May 8, 2012 by

This post is by Nick Mabey, chief executive and a founder director of E3G. It was first published on Guardian Sustainable Business.

Walking into Westminister tube station, members of parliament currently find themselves surrounded by a phalanx of purple adverts announcing that “The road to economic growth is … a flight path”. This is just the most visible manifestation of a massive business-led campaign arguing the importance of increased airport capacity to the UK economy.

At one level you have to admire the chutzpah of the British Airports Authority (BAA) in making this argument. New airport capacity is irrelevant to UK economic recovery and will not provide a single additional job before the end of the decade. With business passengers making up only 12% of total UK flights it is also clear that absolute capacity constraints are not a material business issue. But at least BAA’s opportunism is understandable; they are simply acting in their own best business interests. What is unforgivable is the lack of alternative business voices advocating a low-carbon, green pathway to economic recovery. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Green economy, Low carbon energy | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Why the UK needs a binding energy efficiency target

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

This post is by Green Alliance policy assistant Elise Attal 

Energy efficiency is a no brainer. As a recent report from E3G showed, it is the most rational and straightforward thing do from both an economic and environmental perspective. It should be the government’s first priority. Continue reading →

Posted in Energy demand, Green economy, Policy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment