During his first announcement as the new Energy and Climate Change Secretary; Ed Davey this morning launched a new offensive on cutting energy waste. Following in his predecessor’s green footsteps, Davey has today revealed a passion for energy efficiency with the opening of a new Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO).
Working alongside the newly-formed EEDO team, Davey intends to transform the way UK homeowners manage their energy use in the hope that efficiency can become a part of our everyday lives.
“I’m hugely enthusiastic about energy efficiency. It’s the cheapest way of cutting carbon – and cutting bills for consumers. It has to be right at the heart of what we do.
“EEDO will be a centre of expertise, challenging our work and making energy efficiency real and relevant to people’s everyday lives. Two out of three consumers think their home is wasting energy, but only one in three is going to do anything about it. That has to change. We need to get out there and show people what energy efficiency can really do for them,” Davey explained.
Evidently, the EEDO team will pull together members of DECC currently working on the Green Deal, renewable heat and other forms of green energy in order to create a knowledgeable group.
“The Green Deal will play a huge part in this work and will also support jobs in the insulation and construction industries– as many as 65,000 right across the country by 2015. It can help us deliver a fairer, greener economy. And help us get young people back into work – or into work for the first time.
“The UK has some of the most inefficient housing stock in the EU. But getting this right means as a nation we make energy savings over the next decade equivalent to two nuclear power stations while making everyone’s homes warmer and cheaper to run,” continued Davey.
Energy efficiency will also become of great importance to those working in the UK’s solar industry come April this year, as new EPC requirements are expected to take hold.