At present, the renewables part of power bills stands at around £55 on average. Subsidising renewable energy further could more than double this figure to as much as £120 per year by 2014. The UK Energy Research Centre has predicted by 2050, the renewable energy subsidy will cost the economy £17 billion a year – around £700 per household.

The UK is pushing hard to find more renewable energy sources as the Government has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the UK by 34 percent in 11 years and 80
Percent in 40 years. At present, the UK is the only country with legally binding CO2 targets. The UK is facing an uphill struggle with just three percent of electricity currently coming from renewable sources.

To ensure that more people don’t fall into fuel poverty, the Government is also thought to be planning social tariffs whereby the poor and the elderly will not have to pay the full extra subsidy and energy companies will instead by forced to subsidise this cost by adding extra to the bills of better off clients.

To push the green incentive even further, householders may be offered incentives to produce their own energy for example through solar panels. Smart meters may also be introduced to help householders analyse their power use and help reduce it.

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Households who don’t want to install double glazing or insulation may be penalised according to the latest proposals drawn up by ministers. To encourage households to install the greener measures, a carrot and stick approach will be used by introducing ‘green mortgages’ where homeowners can apply for loans to spend on green equipment such as solar panels or new, more efficient boilers.

As yet there has been no official statement regarding the proposals and none is expected before the autumn.

It is expected that the Government will offer loans for environmentally friendly products such as double glazing, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, solar panels and wind turbines amongst others. It is proposed that the loans will be made available by high street banks in partnership with councils. The loans are expected to be between £10,000 and £15,000 and repayable over 25 years. Householders who refuse to take part in the scheme are likely to be hit with higher council tax rates and there may also be the added threat of higher stamp duty payments which may put off prospective property purchasers. Any charges on the house would be passed to the new owner if the property was sold.

There has been some backlash over the proposals with some believing that features such as Victorian sash windows could be removed in favour of double glazing – when sash windows are actually quite energy efficient.

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Sewage treatment goes on for 24 hours a day so there is always a supply of the raw materials. Sewage is broken down by microbes by the anaerobic process. The by-product of this process is methane. Most sewage plants burn this methane to produce energy however this new biogas plant will remove moisture, carbon dioxide and sulphide traces as this will produce a pure methane that is almost as clear as the methane which is derived from the North Sea. Just like the gas from the North Sea, this biogas will be odourless so an artificial gas smell is added before it is piped into residential homes.

Some people have voiced their concerns over cooking from a product made from human waste. Experts have quelled these concerns stating it is hygienic for use in the home, including through cooking. Drinking water has been through the water cycle and is safe for imbibing, and this sewage methane gas is exactly the same.

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And it isn’t just the flooding we should be concerned about – losing gardens to concrete also has an impact on the local wildlife, particularly birds and insects. The loss of greenery also helps contribute to the ‘urban heat island effect’ – a phenomenon where areas with lots of hard surfaces such as in towns and cities have a higher temperature than those with less hard surfaces.

However there is a middle ground which sees people having parking whilst minimising the effects of transforming a garden into a parking area. Make sure that instead of using concrete you use a permeable material which can absorb some rainfall such as artificial grass or gravel. Or alternatively, lay two concrete tracks through your garden to allow you park your car at the front of your house whilst retaining most of the grass and plants in the garden.

And if you have already concreted your front garden over, consider either turning some of it back to grass, or add plants in pots around the front of your house to help increase the greenery at the front of your house.

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There are plenty of variations on the theme, most of which revolve around vertical farming. This is, essentially, a larger scale vertical garden with plants growing on the outsides of buildings. Not only does this help with retain heat in the building in winter and help keep the building cool in summer, the vertical farm can also help produce food to feed the people in the building. The plants will also catch some rainfall thus helping to reduce the risk of flash floods.

One of the latest ideas is the Dragonfly building, a concept from Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. His Dragonfly is 100 percent self sufficient thanks to a combination of solar and wind power. Spanning 132 floors and 600 metres high, the Dragonfly incorporates up to 28 different agricultural fields for the production of various crops including meat, dairy, fruit, grains and vegetables. Offices and residential area share the space and the rooms can be found between the agricultural area. Plant and animal farming is spaced in a specific manner so soil nutrient levels are maintained and biowaste can be reused.

With an increasing number of people trying to reduce the number of miles that their food travels before they buy it, we would not be surprised to see some of these urban farm units spring up in a major city before too long.

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Wind turbines often aren’t particularly effective when used in a residential situation.

- Firstly, buildings cause turbulence and wind turbines dislike turbulence. Wind turbines much prefer smooth flows of air. Unfortunately, buildings redirect wind causing small eddies and different streams and this can lead to a confused turbine that doesn’t perform brilliantly even when the wind is fairly strong.

- Home wind turbines can be very noisy and can actually cause vibrations. Part of the noise and the vibrations comes from the actual wind turbine however the wind turbines can also help create oscillations and resonance in the building they are standing on.

- If you live in a relatively built up area, other buildings may act as wind breaks so your wind turbine may not get as much wind as it should and therefore cannot perform well.

All these factors mean that wind turbines are actually not terribly efficient with some producing only 5% of predicted performance. On paper, wind turbines for the home may look great but with poor performance, other renewable energy sources such as solar panels are usually the better bet. Coupled with the fact that it can be expensive to actually mount the wind turbine, it may actually not be the top green solution you were looking for.

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Vinegar
Vinegar is a great all-purpose home-made cleaning solution. Mix an equal quantity of water with an equal quantity of vinegar and use to clean windows. Make sure you use non-coloured newspaper for a streak-free finish to your windows – and recycle or compost the newspaper afterwards. The same mix can also be used for cleaning floors as the vinegar will help cut through grease and dirt.

Vinegar can also help to get rid of smells in the air. If you have cooked something smelly, leave a small dish of neat vinegar in the kitchen and in an hour or two, the air will smell fresh again. Vinegar also works to help eliminate cigarette odour.

If you don’t like the smell of plain vinegar, make a scented vinegar to help: snip rosemary, lavender, rose petals, thyme or any other scented herb from your garden and add to your vinegar. Seal tightly and leave in a cool, dark place for at least a month and you’ll have a lovely scented vinegar for cleaning!

Baking Soda
Baking soda is a great way of eliminating odours. Rinse out your bin and sprinkle a little baking soda on the bottom and it should eliminate most smells.

It is also brilliant for carpets – sprinkle thinly onto a carpet and leave for 10 minutes. Vacuum off. The carpet should now smell clean and fresh. If you want a nice scent, add a couple of drops of essential oil to the baking soda before sprinkling.

Vinegar and baking soda also make a great cleaning paste. Mix the two to form a paste-like substance and scrub your bath, shower and sink with the mix for a much cheaper, greener alternative to most bathroom cleaners. These two products are also great for cleaning drains. Sprinkle some baking soda down your bath or sink hole and add some vinegar. The two ingredients will froth and hopefully clean out your blocked drain.

Mayonnaise
Strange as it may sound, mayonnaise is great for getting crayon marks off the walls or furniture so if you have a toddler, make sure you always have a jar of mayonnaise on hand!

Make Your Own Furniture Polish
Max a little olive oil and lemon juice in a spray bottle. Shake well and spray a small amount onto a cloth. Polish on your furniture until no residue remains. Note: you should always try a small patch first to make sure that it does not discolour your furniture.

Green Fabric Softener
Add a quarter of a cup of baking soda to your wash to make your clothes feel softer.

Whiten Your Clothes
Pour a cup of lemon juice into a bucket of water and leave the clothes to soak for a few hours. This should remove most stains from the clothes.

Do you have a green, home-made cleaner that’s not on our list? Add your cleaner in the comments below!

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