Seeing the light: Microgeneration brings energy to life
Government must take action to get solar panels, mini wind- turbines and air source heat pumps into homes and schools
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The first ever research into the effect of microgeneration on attitudes and behaviours in homes and schools, published on Monday 24 October by the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable, reveals the remarkable impact of microgeneration on people’s everyday energy use, and calls for decisive government action.
Seeing the Light proves that DIY energy generation – from mini wind turbines, solar panels and air source heat pumps – has the power to engage homes and schools to actively cut their energy use and connect with climate change solutions. According to the report, households without these technologies failed to understand how they used energy (100% claimed that switching suppliers was the only way to reduce energy bills), and did not link their concerns about climate change with their own behaviour. Whereas households with the technologies were able not only to understand, but control their energy consumption, resulting in lower bills and a zeal for saving energy throughout the home.
Set against the government target of reducing carbon dioxide by 60% over the next 50 years, Seeing the Light illuminates the vital role that microgeneration has to play in the UK’s future energy mix. Alan Knight, chair of the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable, says:
“We were set up to advise the government on the practical steps they should take to help people reduce their environmental footprint. As it’s a very complicated area, sometimes government gets too nervous to tackle the right issues head-on.
“In this instance, the case for microgeneration is strong and straightforward. We’re calling on government to take decisive action by making microgeneration a focus in the Climate Change Programme Review and facilitating the uptake of sustainable microgeneration technologies in all new and refurbished buildings. There are opportunities here and now with the ODPM’s sustainable communities plan, which will see over a million new homes, and the new school building programmes.”
The report analyses four distinct groups – households without microgeneration, those which installed technologies, those which inherited technologies from a local authority and schools – to further reveal:
· Microgeneration has the power to lower bills and address fuel poverty, particularly in households which inherit technologies from their local authority.
· This leads to further energy-conserving techniques, such as focusing the use of washing machines on key ‘generating’ times.
· The visible presence of wind turbines and sun panels around the home provides a tangible reminder of energy use, which also works to change behaviours.
· Microgeneration has the strongest impact when householders are introduced to the technologies from the start and given a clear explanation of their advantages.
· Householders who actively installed their own technologies could be divided into three groups: environmentalists (motivated by environmental impact), independents (motivated by self-sufficiency) and technophiles (motivated by new innovations) – all surveyed made more improvements to the energy efficiency of their homes after installing microgeneration.
· Schools with microgeneration developed an eco-friendly ethos, which was hugely strengthened when lessons on producing energy were incorporated into the curriculum.
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