Britain’s 26 million homes are, on the whole, using energy inefficiently and wasting heat and power. The average household could be spending over £300 more on energy a year than they actually need to – a lot of money for any family, particularly in today's financially challenging times.
Wasting energy also leads to the unnecessary emission of harmful pollution, particularly greenhouse gases such as CO2, which are responsible for climate change. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is responsible for helping consumers to save money and CO2 through energy efficiency and low carbon technologies.
Legal responsibilities
Preventing climate change: the Climate Change Act 2008 contains a legal requirement to cut UK greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050. This will mean reducing household CO2 emissions to almost zero over the next four decades.
Tackling fuel poverty: millions of UK households struggle to afford their energy bills and fall into a category known as ‘fuel poor’. The UK has a target to eradicate fuel poverty in all vulnerable households by 2010, and to eradicate all fuel poverty by 2016.
Information relating to coal health claims can also be found in this section.