Government learns It's not cheap being green
It has been argued that being green is a luxury; a status-symbol only available to those lucky few who can afford to spend extra on expensive 'eco' products. And at the moment, I have a lot of sympathy with this view. The scramble yesterday for government grants that would allow more people to run green households is testement to the fact that more of us would like to change if we could afford it, and I wonder if the government are going to take notice now their scheme has been branded 'a farce'?
As grants totalling £500,000 for wind turbines, solar panels and other energy-saving devices ran out in just 75 minutes, campaigners from groups including the Green Party and Friends of the Earth called for the government to do more to help more households go green. Currently, the half million allocation is offered monthly, but in January, 5,513 applications were made with 1,310 being awarded.
As it stands, I think it's fair to say that a lot of people - even the moderately well-of - can't even think about making their households significantly greener than they already are. You can pay a bit extra for energy-saving bulbs, but when it comes to a house's entire heating system, things start to look a bit less feasable: a wood heater, which is considered carbon neutral, will set you back £3,000, while a 1kw turbine (which will produce about 20% of the power needed for an average household) costs £1,500. Is it any wonder many people feel helpless?
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