Entries for February 2008

Improved waste management is making a contribution to lower greenhouse gas emissions according to a new study published by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The EU’s environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, has called for the Commission’s climate change proposals to be fast-tracked by the Community’s two other law-making bodies, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

The European CHP association (Cogen-Europe) is concerned that proposals for amending the rules for emissions trading may actively discourage investment in the technology.

On 29 January, the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors its latest initiative on climate change.

A new Energy Star regulation, agreed between the EU and the USA, came into force in the EU mid-February.

The European Commission has been undertaking a public consultation on ways to revise the 1992 Energy Labelling Directive which requires the publication of energy and other resource consumption on household appliances.

The Waste & Resources Action Plan’s new guidance on the use of recycled aggregates is particularly aimed at contractors, clients and specifiers in small and medium sized enterprises in the sector.

DCLG has carried out an assessment of proposals to remove householders’ permitted development right to pave over their front gardens unless they use porous materials.

The Environmental Industries Commission has published a report calling for the Government to ensure the uptake of sustainable urban drainage systems in all new developments.

DEFRA is consulting on measures to improve surface water drainage to help resolve existing improvements and to prepare for climate change.

An independent review of metering and charging, new building regulations with a minimum water standard for new buildings, a review of regulations on fittings and extension of the Water Saving Group to the industrial and commercial sectors are among the recommendations of DEFRA’s water strategy.

Some insurers will refuse to cover homes built in areas the Environment Agency has warned are prone to flooding, the Association of British Insurers claimed last week.

Britain installed only about 270 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on houses in 2007, compared with 130,000 in Germany, new Government figures have revealed.

Take up of the CEEQUAL scheme, which aims to replicate the BREEAM standard for buildings in the civil engineering sector, has now reached 114 assessments on projects collectively worthy £3.5bn.

Greenhouse gas emissions continued to fall in 2006, despite economic growth of 2.9%, with the largest fall (4% lower than 2005) recorded in the domestic sector, and 1.6% in the business sector.