HC Deb 24 January 1991 vol 184 cc274-5W
Mr. Pendry

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what specific measures his Department has taken to promote energy efficiency; what further measures his Department intends to take to promote energy efficiency; and by what amount and what percentage of its total energy bill his Department's energy bill has been reduced over the past year.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

Since 1983, the Energy Efficiency Office (EEO) has promoted a range of programmes and other services to encourage the adoption of cost-effective energy efficiency measures in industry and the domestic sector. These initiatives have led to recurrent annual energy savings now worth over £500 million a year and currently includethe ministerial group on energy efficiency which aims to promote awareness and raise the profile of energy efficiency; encourage an energy efficiency lifestyle at home, at work and in transport; and lead by example in the development of policy initiatives and by taking forward the energy efficiency campaign on the Government estate and in other public sector bodies; the best practice programme which provides independent and authoritative advice and information on energy use and efficiency in industry and commerce, and in the public sector and in housing; the programme will continue to promote combined heat and power; regional energy efficiency officers who lead the drive to encourage energy efficiency by visiting main energy users to guide them in developing energy management programmes, promoting EEO programmes and energy efficiency seminars and exhibitions, and encouraging the energy efficiency industry; in the domestic sector, the home energy efficiency scheme, which began on 1 January 1991, replacing the community insulation programme which has insulated some 850,000 homes; it will offer grants towards the cost of basic energy efficiency measures in low-income households; the EEO has also launched a new domestic advertising campaign to motivate those moving house or improving their homes to improve their energy efficiency; This campaign is supported by a new information pack —"Energy in Your Home"—which provides information and advice on a wide range of measures.

The EEO is also carrying forward a number of new initiatives which were announced in the White Paper on the Environment, "This Common Inheritance" (Cm 1200), and which include: developing proposals for a new scheme of project management assistance for implementation of energy efficiency investments; considering with the lighting industry how to overcome barriers to the uptake of high-efficiency lighting; pursuing appliance labelling and minimum standards with our own appliance industry and in the EC.

With regard to the Department of Energy's own energy use, during the first year of occupation in our new headquarters building, which incorporates energy-efficiency systems, major energy initiatives were precluded by the process of ensuring that all plant and equipment were operating correctly and efficiently. However, during the coming year, my officials together with those of Property Holdings, will be investigating the feasibility of a contract energy management package. In addition, my Department will be running year-long schemes designed to promote staff awareness of the importance of energy efficiency through a variety of means including leaflets, poster campaigns and staff suggestions schemes.

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