When we compare our existing homes with those of others, especially in central or northern European countries, ours like in Britain, are typically very inefficient in energy performance. They tend to be poorly insulated, wasteful in energy and expensive to keep warm, while many still remain cold, damp, unhealthy and draughty. They are also very dependent on the use of oil, gas, coal or peat, which makes our homes generally very high in emissions of carbon dioxide.

The CO2 emissions from heat and power in all our homes have increased by a whopping 10% in 2008! – Where our average house generated 8.4 tons CO2 per year. This is over twice the European average! The increase in 2008 was blamed on a longer heating season that year than is usual, but it shows how vulnerable our homes are when exposed to the challenges that lie ahead. Will the cold spell that occurred this mid-winter repeat last year’s increase in fuel consumption and emissions? Or, on this occasion, will a large portion of householders have to suffer more from the cold? Because of our economic downturn, will many households have less disposable income now to pay for this increase in fuel demand? Even though energy prices have recently shown signs of coming down here, I believe that as we approach ever closer to the global terminal decline in the production of oil, these reduced fuel prices will surely be short-lived. Especially as other Economies come out of recession, the world demand for oil increases and scarcity of supply drives prices up again. I am convinced that we will see price rises happening again within a very short time, as it did in 2008 where crude oil prices soared to $147 a barrel and gas followed it. This would have continued upwards, only that World economies collapsed and with energy demand, which was brought about partly because of this oil price shock.