There are millions of pounds in grants waiting to be claimed - and you could get your share. Grants are free money which does not need to be repaid. And you don't need to be on the breadline or a student to get them. You just have to fulfil the criteria. Grants are usually given to cover part or all of the cost of something and you must use the money for that purpose. Best known and most accessible are energy grants. Click here for full story

A leading green energy product manufacturer says leaked findings of an incomplete study into the effectiveness of heat pumps must be treated with the ‘utmost caution’. Stiebel Eltron’s UK operations director, John Felgate, said the heat pump industry is determined to set the record straight on leaked findings of a report by the Energy Savings Trust (EST) which suggest the performance of heat pumps is ‘unreliable’. Click here for full story

As solar photovoltaic panels go mainstream, Eric Gies looks at the environmental impact of making and disposing of them ….. Solar modules contain some of the same potentially dangerous materials as electronics, including silicon tetrachloride, cadmium, selenium, and sulfur hexafluoride, a potent greenhouse gas. So as solar moves from the fringe to the mainstream, insiders and watchdog groups are beginning to talk about producer responsibility and recycling in an attempt to sidestep the pitfalls of electronic waste and retain the industry's green credibility. Click here for full story

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is launching a range of Solar PV and Solar Thermal water heating solutions to "help customers cut their carbon emissions and reduce their energy bills". M&S is one of the first retailers to offer solar energy packages that enable customers to take advantage of Feed-in-Tariffs. Click here for full story

A coalition of green, countryside and housing groups has warned energy secretary Chris Huhne not to cut subsidies for green electricity and heating as part of the government's spending review. The 22 groups, including green energy trade body the Renewable Energy Association, the National Farmers Union and the Federation of Master Builders, said in a letter to Huhne that cutting schemes that subsidise household generation of renewable energy would jeopardise job creation, energy security and greenhouse gas targets. Click here for full story

Coalition of green, countryside and housing groups warns that cutting schemes that subsidise household generation of renewable energy would jeopardise job creation, energy security and greenhouse gas targets
Click here for full story

The gold rush sparked by the launch of the UK's renewable energy feed-in tariff stepped up a notch this week after German solar specialist Centrosolar launched a UK subsidiary and obtained product UK certification for its solar panels…… The company has recruited seven-year solar industry veteran Simon Gerrard, former head of domestic sales for Solarcentury, to run its British subsidiary. Click here for full story

Energy regulator Ofgem has now released the UK installation numbers for the period 1-31st August 2010, revealing a huge spike in figures. The details set out on the company’s website show that August was a record month in terms of solar photovoltaic installations. Back at the beginning of August, the Solar Power Portal announced the installation figures for the period April 1 to July 31, which outlined that PV had significantly overtaken any other renewable energy source in those four months, hitting a total of 11.266MW since the feed-in tariff was introduced. The total figure for solar PV installations for this period was 4,457, 4,429 of which were domestic, six commercial, and one community. Click here for full story

YouGen welcomes DECC’s clarification on grants and feed-in tariffs. Many schools and community groups have endured a long period of uncertainty, having been told they could not claim the feed-in tariff unless they paid back grants received under the Low Carbon Building Programme. They also did not know what rate of feed-in tariff they would get if they kept the grant. Click here for full story

Stiebel Eltron has completed a raft of installation contracts across the UK. The Wirral-based firm has been working in the domestic and commercial sectors to provide green energy and home comfort products to both retro-fit and new build projects. Commercial projects include the JCB Academy in Rochester, Staffordshire, where installer MG Renewables has installed Stiebel Eltron solar thermal units for hot water, while York Racecourse is currently trialling the company’s instantaneous hot water heaters with a view to installation across the venue. Click here for full story

The Solar Trade Association has today (September 1) welcomed figures published by Ofgem which show a surge in the number of solar photovoltaic panels installed by homeowners in August. However, while the solar energy industry body welcomed the report it stressed that there was a need for further improvement to help the UK to catch up with the rest of Europe. Click here for full story

As many as half of Britain's homes could earn around £600 a year from roof top solar panels with some earning as much as £1000... Research carried out by British Gas suggests that over 12 million households have roofs that could benefit from solar panel installations which would produce enough electricity for up to half their household needs. Click here for full story

An article in the Guardian has flagged up the sad fact that one of the UK's most radical environmental policies – requiring all new homes from 2016 to be "zero carbon" – is set to be scaled back amid pressure from the housebuilding industry. Builders claim the proposals would be too expensive and impossible to implement for many flats, and would result in a slump in the rate of homes built. Now, says Tim Webb, The Guardian has learned that the government is ready to water down the target, a move environmentalists have said would be a "travesty". Click here for full story

A Grade 1 listed Norman church based in Withington is set to become the first zero carbon place of worship in the UK. The renewable work on St Michael and All Angels Church is expected to be complete by the end of September. The church will be fitted with 22 solar panels on the roof and a new biomass boiler. These measures will generate electricity to power the building’s low lighting, however other measures will be taken in order to save energy. The church’s outdoor floodlights will be switched off in the summer and will only be used from 10.30pm in the winter months. Click here for full story

Plumbing organisations are keen that their members take advantage of opportunities in the booming green economy. People who have passed plumbing courses are being urged to learn how to install the latest technologies in order to meet the growing demand for green energy appliances that save water and money. Blane Judd, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering, said that plumbers can play a key role in advising householders about the latest and best energy saving appliances. Click here for full story

A record 2,200 U.K. households have installed solar panels this month, the Financial Times reported, citing the energy regulator Ofgem. That compares with 1,700 last month and 1,400 in June, the newspaper said. Click here for full story

British Gas has become the latest energy giant to try to break into the booming market for domestic renewable energy technologies, unveiling a new service that will allow households to install solar panels at no up-front cost. Following the launch of the UK's feed-in tariff incentive scheme in April, many energy companies and specialist renewable energy firms have launched new financing and installation schemes designed to help households deploy rooftop solar panels. Click here for full story

The Prince of Wales has won permission to install solar panels on the roof of Clarence House in an attempt to make his 180-year-old London residence “carbon negative”. The installation of the 32 panels on the building’s south-east roof is expected to cost as much as £150,000, which will take 10 years to recoup in reduced energy bills. Experts have been called in to ensure that the roof of the Grade II listed building is not damaged during the installation. Click here for full story

Construction work is finally beginning on the UK's first Green Energy Training Centre on Merseyside, which is aiming to boost the number of skilled contractors qualified to install microgeneration technologies. Builders will this week start converting a warehouse owned by renewable technology manufacturer Stiebel Eltron into the new £280,000 Green Energy Training Centre (GETC). Government and industry-accredited training courses are expected to start in November. Click here for full story

A pioneering Shetland seaweed business has welcomed news that the new wind turbine at the centre of their expansion plans will be eligible for the government’s new feed in tariff (FiT). Margaret and Michael Blance, of Bod Ayre Products, have spent £83,000 on a 20 kilowatt wind turbine to provide under floor heating in a new drying room where they intend to produce edible seaweed. Click here for full story

Self-cleaning technology developed for lunar and Mars missions could be used to keep terrestrial solar panels dust free. Dust deposits can reduce the efficiency of electricity generating solar panels by as much as 80%. The self cleaning technology can repel dust when sensors detect concentrations on the panel's surface have reached a critical level. Click here for full story

The government's upcoming Energy Security and Green Economy bill must include measures to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) cut carbon emissions, according to a new report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).The report, titled Making Sense of Going Green, examines how SMEs can better contribute to the government's low-carbon 2020 targets and recommends a range of measures, including expanding the government's current green loan scheme for small businesses and offering incentives for firms that improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. Click here for full story

‘Making Sense of Going Green’ is online on the Federation of Small Businesses’ website. Click here for full story

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Wales are set to benefit from new support scheme aimed at helping them profit from the renewable energy sector. Called the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), it is designed to help Welsh SMEs receive the right accreditation to help them install renewable technologies, such as solar panels and heat pumps. Click here for full story

Inventor Matthew Luethi may have walked away empty-handed from the Dragons’ Den, but his quest to produce cost-effective and reliable wind turbines is going ahead swiftly regardless. “It was a shame that none of the Dragons invested with me, though I was very heartened that they didn’t rubbish my pitch, and that they were respectful of my ideas,” says Matthew Luethi, the Inventor and Chairman of Luethi Enterprises Limited. “Shortly after my pitch, I signed a contract with an investment company, so the development plans are progressing anyway.” These development plans include bringing the company’s patented 500W silent vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) into production, as well as a new 250W “barrel” turbine. Click here for full story

Residents of Sollas in North Uist must return to the drawing board after being told that their renewable energy project cannot be taken forward for funding. The community has fallen foul of Scottish Government spending cuts which will see many other small-scale renewable energy proposals across the Outer Hebrides also left high and dry. The Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (Cares), administered by Community Energy Scotland (CES), was due to run until 2011, but has been abruptly closed to new applicants. Click here for full story

The Government is talking to big national retailers about delivering the Green Deal, yet a new poll reveals that 84% of people would trust locally-based, specialist suppliers more than national retailers such as M&S, Tesco (15%). The idea for the poll came from Greg Barker’s saying that “the other exciting thing about the green deal is that it is not just reliant on the big six energy companies, which have mixed reputations, but brings in some of our most trusted high street retailers and brands, such as Marks and Spencer and Tesco, which have strong degrees of consumer trust,” during the energy efficiency debate at the end of June. Click here for full story

Figures released today show that carbon emissions have plummeted by as much as 44 per cent and energy bills will be cut by around £50,000 a year at ten fire stations involved in the Mayor of London’s RE:FIT programme. The completed stations are now saving 242 tonnes of CO2 per year - enough to fill the Sydney Opera House five times over. Click here for full story

Plans for a new Green Deal for households and businesses were outlined today by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, as he spoke of the Government's "quiet green revolution" to create jobs and protect the environment. The Deputy Prime Minister was speaking at the launch of a new project to provide support for new and rapidly growing businesses in renewable energy and related low carbon markets. The project is being led by TEDCO, a successful Enterprise Agency based in South Tyneside. The project aims to support the creation of 1,000 new businesses and 10,000 new jobs. The Green Deal will combine growth in the economy with a greener and more efficient way of using energy. It aims to reduce energy demand and carbon emissions while making homes warmer, saving consumers money and stimulating green recovery in jobs. Click here for full story

RenewableUK, the country's leading renewable energy trade association, has today welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister's plans for a Green Deal, as an important step in maximising employment and business benefits in the renewable energy sector...... Commenting on the announcement Indre Vaizgelaite, RenewableUK Small Systems Manager said: "It is encouraging to see Government taking action on renewables and the environment. As an industry we look forward to next phase of the Green Deal which is expected to focus on the microgeneration sector. The UK small wind sector currently has more than 14,000 small systems installed but the Green Deal will be a great catalyst for further growth which in conjunction with more energy-efficient homes, will be vital in driving down our carbon emissions." Click here for full story

A new study conducted by researchers at Michigan State University shows that employees who work in environmentally friendly buildings are more productive and take less sick days. The researchers took employees working in conventional buildings and placed them in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) buildings, the workers transferred to LEED offices were less prone to absenteeism and stress related problems. Employees also demonstrated a higher level of productivity when working in LEED buildings than conventional offices; this was attributed to perceived improvements in health and well being. Click here for full story

Councils on Teesside are planning a raft of renewable energy schemes following the lifting of a ban on selling electricity to the grid. Energy Secretary Chris Huhne announced the end of the 25-year ban last week. The move comes into operation today, ending a long-running struggle by authorities that fought to get it overturned, while creating a valuable revenue stream for council coffers….. “This will have a significant impact,” said Wendi Wheeler, Redcar and Cleveland Council’s energy manager, “particularly where a building such as a school is closed over the summer. The PV cells can generate away merrily and we will be able to sell that electricity back to the grid. Click here for full story

There's a new beast on the loose in the countryside. Visitors are stalking Britain's rural communities in unsuitable footwear, offering farmers the deal of a lifetime. They're not pushing a wonder fertilizer or trying to side-step their local farmers' market in the hunt for a new superfood, but offering help to cash in on the new gold rush - solar power. Click here for full story

An innovative eco-friendly scheme that could see wind turbines installed in two Suffolk villages – with income from electricity sales ploughed back into the parish – was last night hailed as a blueprint for the county’s green future. The ground-breaking project was the brainchild of Cookpole Energy Action (CEA), a not for profit group made up of residents from Cookley and Walpole, near Halesworth. Click here for full story

The University of Brighton is co-ordinating a EUR6.3m programme to equip social housing schemes in the UK and France with energy systems that combat climate change. Professor Mike McEvoy, from the university's School of Architecture and Design, is co-ordinating Innovation for Renewal (IFORE) which is being financed by the European Regional Development Fund's Interreg programme. Click here for full story

U.K. solar power installer jobs have increased by 75 percent this year as government incentives spurred demand for photovoltaic panels, Solar Century Holdings Ltd. said. The combined number of employees for Solar Century, which builds solar systems for homebuilders Persimmon Plc and Barratt Developments Plc, and 11 companies it works with to install panels has risen to 350 from 200 at the beginning of the year, the London-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. There will be “well over 500 jobs by 2011,” it said. Click here for full story

For one heating company, focusing on renewable heating has increased business and prepared it for the continuing rise of the renewables sector. Denis Meehan, managing director of London-based Ecological Heating, has completed all his training with Logic and recognises renewables as a growth industry. “There is a lot of opportunity in this sector, especially with the launch next year of the Renewable Heat Incentive, Feed-in-Tariffs with solar PV, and the grants that are available.” Click here for full story

With an electricity meter that goes backwards and a roof covered in green plants, Tony's Almond's house is no normal home. The house in Welwyn village, just north of London, is actually a green "superhome" - the 50th in a UK-wide network of demonstration eco-homes now open to the public. Click here for full story

Chris Huhne's announcement that local authorities will be allowed to sell electricity to the National Grid is, on the face of it, logical – councils have lots of buildings which could be used for hosting solar panels, for example, and they could make cuts in their CO2 emissions and electricity bills as a result. However, there is a problem. Click here for full story

With a grass roof on the petrol station and a vegetable patch beside the coach park, the concept for Britain's greenest motorway services may seem beset by contradictions. But planners have approved designs for the £35m Gloucester Gateway project which aims to reinvent the motorway pitstop for the carbon-conscious generation….. The car parks have been designed to allow for charging points for electric vehicles and the filling station can be adapted to bio-fuel pumps in the future. Click here for full story