Energy initiative highlights potential savings

• By E4B
• 23 July 2008
• Email
• Print
• RSS

An initiative organised by a commercial electricity supplier has highlighted the potential savings that could be available to energy efficient homes and businesses.

The Green Streets scheme, which was devised by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and British Gas, has found that domestic utility bills could be reduced by over £4 billion a year if households became greener.

It was also found that families who spent the last five months taking part in the programme have reduced their energy usage by 30 per cent.

Speaking to the Guardian, the senior fellow of IPPR's climate change team, Matthwe Lockwood, stated that if similar reductions are to be created across the UK, a "radical approach to public policy" is needed.

He added: "We need to recognise that three in four of the homes we will live in by 2050 have already been built."

A recent study by Eclipse Energy Group for British Gas claimed that household and business energy bills could rise by 70 per cent in the near future.