Britain: Subsidy program to insulate homes and use less energy

The UK government today announced a subsidy scheme for home insulation and a campaign to reduce consumption energy. In total, owners will be given £1 billion (€1.16 billion) to insulate their homes, on top of already existing schemes to deal with rising energy prices, which cost £6.6 billion. pounds, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement.

This program will mainly allow the British government to “extend its support to households that currently do not receive any government assistance, in order to modernize their homes,” the statement said. At the same time, a campaign will be launched aiming for Britons to reduce energy consumption, turning down the temperature in their radiators, turning off radiators in empty rooms or plugging cracks and crevices in doors and windows.

“A drop in the ocean”

Her government Britain it is often accused, mainly by the opposition and environmental NGOs, of not doing enough to help improve the insulation of homes. “Greater energy savings from homes is the best way to reduce household consumption and is already contributing to lower bills,” the ministry estimated.

But for Greenpeace UK today’s announcement is just “a drop in the ocean”, at a time when “almost 7 million households are in a state of energy insecurity and 19 million households in England and Wales have poorly insulated houses”.

British energy regulator Ofgem announced on Thursday that the price of energy for an average family in Britain will rise to £4,300 a year, up from £3,500.

The country’s government has capped the price households pay at £2,500 a year until April and will pay the difference to energy providers. After April the ceiling will increase to 3,000 pounds per year, reports APE-MPE, citing AFP.