Columnist

The energy efficiency landscape

Bdaily recently talked to Steve Hunter, chairman of energy saving experts Tadea, about what could lie in store for the energy sector in 2013, and how businesses are implicated.

Steve’s background in environmental health led him into the energy field as he realised the problems of fuel poverty and how vulnerable households suffer as a result. He was also struck by the growing climate change awareness.

Ten years ago, together with National Energy Action, Steve founded Tadea as an independent outfit to give advice to households and businesses.

He has seen the sector change “beyond measure,” and points towards the emphasis on energy saving in the public sector as a good indicator of this changed feeling.

“I used to give a lot of advice to businesses on management, and energy was never a driver of this. People just paid the bills, but now business people have to look at their bills very carefully because they are rising and there’s nobody in business who would be foolish enough not to be concerned about the underlying cost.”

On the Government’s approach so far, Steve remains positive. He says: “I’m not so cynical about this, I think they’re doing a lot of good things; they’re probably doing more than previous governments. If we look at the capacity for low carbon in the country, that’s really moving now.

“Even at the household, mirco-end we now see PV panels on roofs, which has been brought about by government policy, and while there’s been a few problems with that, the industry has certainly had a kickstart.

“Proportionally low carbon is still small. We’re still predominantly gas and coal. Nuclear is clearly here for the long-term future, and while that is of course low carbon, there are issues associated with it.

“We get some mixed messages from government, and the sceptics are quite furciferous about the cost of green energy, the problem of blighted landscapes and so on. That tends to skew the coverage quite a bit.

“On the one hand the Government are ticking the right boxes, and on the other their actions tend to knock confidence a bit. If we’re looking for investment in low carbon we need confidence, and they could do more in that respect.”

Of course, “confidence” is currently the word on the lips of all energy industry professionals. Are the major players ready to embark on low carbon? Steve thinks so: “They see it as inevitable. They are of course big business and they’re driven by economics.

“At the same time they need confidence to invest in it, and they will look to maximise profits from the existing fossil fuels that they have. Certainly all the utility providers that I deal with are subscribed to this, and there’s no question of the direction, it’s speed that will be the problem.”

Following its beginnings in October 2012, the Green Deal is the latest Government component that Steve and his industry contemporaries are watching.

He says: “Like everybody in the industry, I think the Green Deal seems like a really good idea. It’s the practicalities of making it work though. Some people in the industry who have relied on older methods see it as the abyss, but I think it will become very significant, but perhaps not as quickly as the Government would hope.”

Steve points to the Energy Company Obligation as the underpinning of the Green Deal, and says that it will be the job of energy efficiency companies like Tadea to draw down money in the form of deals for households and businesses.

And for Tadea, the new year will bring new programmes of knowledge and advice on driving techniques, and the relationship with energy saving.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .