Eco Homes

As the clocks go back, our experts answer queries about gas and electricity use, be it for drying clothes, doing the washing up or sorting the heating

The clocks change this weekend, and suddenly there will be no escaping the fact winter is coming. The return of darker, colder nights also means that keeping energy costs down becomes a priority for many Britons.

Although energy bills have eased from recent highs, the latest price cap revision by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, was a rise of almost £150 (just under 10%) to the equivalent of £1,717 a year for an average dual-fuel household paying by direct debit.

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After 250,000 installations across the UK, we look at the devices central to Labour’s vision of a ‘home upgrade revolution’

• ‘We don’t think about energy bills any more’: how a heat pump changed a couple’s lives

Heating the UK’s 28m homes creates almost a fifth of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, so after decades of relying on gas and oil boilers, households will need to break their addiction to fossil fuels if the government hopes to meet its climate targets.

For most homes, the alternative to traditional heating systems is likely to be an electric air source heat pump.

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The new government must use its landslide majority to mend the damage to jobs and fish populations caused by neglect

It is a lonely and unglamorous job, being His Majesty’s official opposition, as Labour knows only too well. There were moments when, out of the spotlight, the party’s spokespeople in parliament heroically defended the public interest on some of the most important issues of the day. One example was during the post-Brexit Fisheries Act, where Labour made a formidable case that history has proved right. The question now is whether Labour will use its landslide majority to fix the extraordinary neglect of our marine environment that it previously lacked the votes for.

Back in 2020, when the fisheries bill was making its way through parliament, Labour’s fisheries spokesperson, Luke Pollard, made the case that the prime objective of the bill should be sustainability: there should be a duty on ministers to take the advice of scientists when allocating fishing opportunities so as to avoid overfishing. He also argued that as the right to fish was a public asset, which ministers conceded during the course of the bill, preference should be given to the part of the fleet which had the highest levels of employment and the lowest environmental impact: the smaller boats, whose activities are limited naturally by the weather.

Charles Clover is the co-founder of the Blue Marine Foundation

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Hailing the success of carrier bag laws, the Marine Conservation Society urges nations to push forward with plans for other single-use items

The number of plastic bags washed up on UK beaches has fallen by 80% over a decade, since a mandatory fee was imposed on shoppers who opt to pick up single-use carrier bags at the checkout.

According to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual litter survey, volunteers found an average of one plastic bag every 100 metres of coastline surveyed last year, compared to an average of five carrier bags every 100 metres in 2014.

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Tech firm’s bid to remove more CO₂ than it produces is being tested as AI spawns new energy-hungry datacentres

• Bill Gates: AI will help rather than hinder climate targets

If you want evidence of Microsoft’s progress towards its environmental “moonshot” goal, then look closer to earth: at a building site on a west London industrial estate.

The company’s Park Royal datacentre is part of its commitment to drive the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), but that ambition is jarring with its target of being carbon negative by 2030.

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Toxic chemicals have been found in everything from strawberries to waterproof clothing. Should we worry?

• ‘They’re in dust – and the thing I use to clean the dust’: can I eradicate PFAS from my home?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS are a group of chemicals that have been used in manufacturing and added to consumer products since the 1950s. They allow grease and dirt to slide off carpets and textiles, protect industrial equipment from heat damage and corrosion, and help to smooth and condition the skin.

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The construction sector accounts for 62% of waste: that could be drastically cut if we chose refurbishment over demolition

My first phone was a Nokia 3210, a cute grey brick with just enough computing power to run Snake. Compared with today’s sleek 5G touchscreen devices it was pretty pants, except in one way: I could repair it. The case, keyboard and battery could, without any special tools, be disassembled and replaced when they cracked or wore out. Unlike iPhones, which arrived on the market as impressive but inscrutable hermetic black boxes – impossible for customers to fix at home – my old Nokia was designed for repair.

Today, however, many manufacturers deliberately discourage mending by making their products hard or confusing to tinker with. This inevitably means more rubbish, with the UN estimating that the volume of electronic waste is rising five times faster than recycling rates. Though on paper, the UK government has set ambitious targets to halve the amount of waste Britons produce by 2042, in practice less mending means more demand for more new products, stimulating consumption and fuelling economic growth. For politicians more anxious about growing GDP than wellbeing, repair has simply not been a priority.

Phineas Harper is a writer and curator

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In part eight of our series exploring myths surrounding EVs, we examine whether they will break our infrastructure

• Do electric cars really produce fewer carbon emissions?
• Are EVs too costly to tempt drivers?
• Is it right to have range anxiety?

Cars have a weight problem. Consider the Mini, designed to save precious fuel during rationing; it has ballooned in size. It is not alone. Cars have got bigger and bigger, with the rise of the SUV only accelerating the trend.

Electric cars might look the same (for now) but they have one important difference: a heavy battery.

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In part seven of our series exploring myths surrounding EVs, we look at claims friction on brakes and tyres will affect air quality

• Are EVs too costly to tempt drivers?
• Is it right to have range anxiety?

Toxic smog has been a part of big city life since the Industrial Revolution: a pea-soup blanket of harmful particulates that can be so thick that seeing and breathing is difficult. Yet in many cities in the rich world that dirty pall has been banished as car engines have got cleaner and factories have moved away. (Poorer cities are not yet so lucky.)

Some people believe that the shift to electric cars could reverse some of that progress: that heavier cars and the particulates they produce by friction mean we could sacrifice cleaner air on the altar of zero carbon emissions.

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Regional mayor Dan Norris launches project to explore potential for former mines to produce low-carbon heat

When Bryn Hawkins worked in coalmines through the 1960s and early 1970s he says few understood the impact the burning of fossil fuels would have on the planet.

Now, public officials are hoping disused mines that provided millions of tonnes of fossil fuels could be used as a potential source of renewable energy across the country.

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