Energy Efficiency -
What's all the fuss about?

In recent years, the focus of the gas and electricity industry seems to have shifted to providing efficient energy. It’s easy to see why this has happened, with greater public concerns about the environment being closely followed by the economic downturn. Now people want to do their bit to help make the planet a bit greener, and avoid wasting money and energy in the process.

The government is doing its bit to draw the public’s attention to energy efficiency in the home, with their 'Act on CO2' campaign going ahead full steam. Through various mediums they are encouraging people to insulate their homes, switch off devices that aren’t being used, and invest in energy saving light bulbs. But it’s not just the government that are stressing the importance of energy efficiency – many energy companies are joining in the campaign as well.

British Gas, for example, has long been one of the country’s leading competitors for electricity and gas supply. Whilst they are by no means trying to lose custom to renewable energy providers, British Gas are nonetheless embracing energy efficiency and asking their customers to do the same. They have an energy efficiency commitment that has seen real progress - in 2007 they invested around £90 million on subsidising energy efficient products, insulating more than 350 thousand homes and supplying more than 6 million homes with energy efficient light bulbs. They have also invested in 6 wind farm sites around the UK, and are testing out alternatives such as bio-fuels.

So why are they going to all this trouble? Well, aside from the fact that any wasteful spending or behaviour seems all the more serious in the current climate, it’s also important that we conserve the fossil fuels that we rely heavily upon for many sources of energy. These fuels are non-renewable, so if we don’t find a way to switch over to renewable sources before they run out we could easily find ourselves without the services we so greatly rely on. The green campaign might seem daft to some people, but it is important that we look after our environment in order to maintain the standards of living that we are used to. Energy efficiency, therefore, really is worth the fuss. Check out the British Gas website to see how all the fuss affects gas prices.

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