Cutting carbon is not as easy as that

Published: 31 March, 2011

• YOU reported in a recent issue how a project to insulate one person’s house was saving them around £1,000 a year in energy bills (‘Retro-fit’ family feel cold comforts, March 24).  

The resident was quoted as saying: “Our carbon footprint has dropped by 70 per cent, if everyone did this we would simply not need to build any nuclear power plants at all”.

Now, energy efficiency is indeed one of the best value and most effective ways of reducing our greenhouse gas output, but the energy we use in the home to heat space, power appliances and for cooking only amounts to a fifth or a quarter of someone’s total energy use. Therefore a reduction of 15 to 20 per cent in overall footprint is the real saving made by this householder. This is not to knock the effort but, uncorrected, we take a notion that beating climate change is rather more straightforward than it is.

ANTHONY PARSONS
Inverness Street
NW1