Want to be more energy efficient, there’s an app for that with our 10 amazing energy apps for the iPhone and iPad

There’s an app for being more energy efficient, and we have put together our ten energy apps. These iPhone and iPad apps range from offering general sustainability hints and tips to measuring your monthly energy costs. A lot of apps now focus on offering general tips and everyday actions that you can take to help save energy or measure what you use more efficiently.

1. If you need to see just how green your local area really is try AllertMe Energy Map iTunes (Free) The app will allow you to find out the average spend per household a year on energy in your area, how much electricity and gas is used and how much carbon this creates. Energy Map shows how your borough ranks against others in the UK for energy use and CO2 emissions. Compare your area with the best and worst offenders in our League Table. Even use Energy Map when you’re out and about to see how much local residents in any area spend on energy. A great tool for any energy broker is the ability to view a map of the UK showing annual energy spend per area or simply browse through all UK areas from A-Z.

2. The British Gas App iTunes (Free) allows you to easily submit your gas and electricity meter readings at any time allowing them to generate a more accurate bill. You can view your account summary with your last bill amount, payment details, see what tariff you are on and when you last submitted a meter read. You can now also view your energy consumption as a graph and compare your usage over previous months and year. The application provides a convenient guide on how to read your energy meters and emergency numbers for gas and electricity. And if you have any questions the App makes it easy to email us and we aim to respond within 24 hours.

3. With Meter Readings iTunes ($1.99) if you closely monitor your household energy/water usage and the chances are you will SAVE MONEY! This easy to use application allows you to track your household utility meters. Once you start entering meter readings, your usage, costs and savings are calculated and your usage and costs are displayed in easy to visualise graphs.

4. The Kill-O-Watts iTunes ($0.99) is an electricity costs calculator. It lets you specify the electrical properties and usage habits for each appliance to find how many kilowatts-hours it consumes and how much you pay for it on a monthly and yearly basis. Choose from more than 120 typical appliances or create new appliances based on the real ones that you own. Identify the top electricity consumers of your home. Compare the electricity consumption cost of two different brands of appliances before buying one of them. Try different usage scenarios and find possible savings. You’ll be surprise to find out how much money you can save with this little application.

5. With the MeterRead™ iTunes ($2.99) its strength is in the calculations it provides. With each reading you record, you get up-to-date stats of your energy use, including an estimate of how many kilowatt hours you’ll burn for the next 30 days. You’ll know at a glance whether your energy-saving activities are on track, or if you need to turn off a few more lights”

6. Carbon Footprint iTunes ($2.99) is an application for the iPhone and iPod touch that allows you to track fuel usage for multiple cars. By entering a few pieces of data every time you put fuel in your tank, Carbon Footprint is able to collect and calculate a number of useful statistics.

7. With the Energy Saving #1 iTunes (Free) wouldn’t it be great if you could load your iPhone’s or iPad’s battery anytime, anywhere? Energy Saving #1 presents a solar panel on your screen and gives the impression you found the ultimate way to provide energy for your iPhone! Impress your friends with this great solution for energy production. But please pay attention to this: Don’t leave your iPhone behind unattended, Don’t let your iPhone get to hot, Don’t expect your battery to be loaded this way, but you will get new energy saving tips everyday!

8. The GreenMeter iTunes ($5.99) is an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that computes your vehicle’s power and fuel usage characteristics and evaluates you’re driving to increase efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and cost, and lower your environmental impact. Results are displayed in real time, while driving, to give instantaneous feedback. Though it’s most effective on the road, you can learn from greenMeter even before you get in the car. By tipping the device forward and backward to simulate acceleration, you can see the effects of acceleration, aerodynamic drag, and rolling resistance across the speed range. Then implement this knowledge on the road, by choosing an efficient cruising speed and using the built-in eco-driving displays to moderate acceleration while you drive. Thanks to a novel algorithm that computes parameters over the entire speed range, the app does not need GPS, opening usage up to all generations of the iPhone and iPod Touch.

9. The ShopGreen app iTunes ($0.99) rewards the user by calculating, logging and saving green actions taken to reduce the carbon footprint. Daily tips and great green suggestions help making the correct decisions easier. Carbon savings are tracked within the built-in Eco-Bank. Location aware specials and discounts are offered through participating green friendly companies. Increase the Eco-Bank balance to receive rewards in the form of coupons and specials.

10. The Carbon Calc iTunes (Free) is a Green House Gas (GHG) emissions calculator. If you have wondered what your contribution to global warming is, Carbon Calc is a simple calculator that lets you input your Driving, Flying, and Home energy use. Once you know your footprint, you can compare your net emissions to the US average and the world average. You can optionally offset your footprint by purchasing Carbon Credits.

If you would like more information on our range of energy broker services or would like to find out how we could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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Carbon Reduction Commitment Registration

Only a third of organisations have registered for the CRC Scheme

The deadline for public and private organisations to register for the CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) scheme is next month and according to reports from the Environment Agency only one third of organisations have registered.

On September 30th 2010, every public or private organisation in Britain that use more than 6,000 Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity a year is required to registered for the Carbon Commitment Reduction. Every organisation that misses the deadline will have to pay a £5,000 fine with an additional £500 for every day they are overdue.

Speaking to PublicTechnology.net, head of climate change and sustainable development at the Environment Agency, Tony Grayling said:

“Around a third of organisations that we expected to register for the CRC scheme have registered well in advance of the deadline. We would urge the remaining businesses to sign up now, and not leave registration to the last minute.”

The CRC is Britain’s first mandatory energy efficiency scheme aimed to help the nation meet its Climate Change Bill commitment of reducing 80% of the CO2 emissions by 2050. As afore mentioned in the first phase only “big” private and public corporation have to register which is expected to affect approximately 5,000 organisations in the UK.

But why wait till your company meets the requirements needed to enter the scheme. Why not start improving your business energy efficiency today?

Energy industry and sustainability experts have stated that homeowners and business leaders all share a joint responsibility for improving the UK’s energy efficiency and help Britain meet its legally binding commitment to reducing CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050.

Domestic and business electricity suppliers should work together with their clients to contribute towards the carbon reduction emissions target by obliging home and business owners to improve their energy efficiency, therefore reducing the CO2 emitted by their home and businesses alike.

In short, we all have our share of responsibility to help Britain achieve the dream of a low carbon society. From the big corporations that consume thousands of Megawatts per hour every year, to our own homes, if everyone does their bit the UK can become one of the most energy efficient nations in the world.

For business owners looking for innovative business management solutions, contact Catalyst now and one of our experienced energy consultants will be happy to discuss our energy management solutions in detail with you.

If you would like more information on our range of energy broker services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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The Biggest UK Business Energy Suppliers and their Tariffs

Choosing the right energy tariff for your business is not an easy job and it is best to leave it for the professionals, like an energy broker or a business energy consultant. With so many options available and the complexity of the UK energy market it is easy to choose the wrong business energy supplier and waste thousands of pounds each year on energy bills.

In the same way that domestic customers are free to compare prices and switch to a cheaper supplier, business customers can also choose the best deal for their needs. Below you will find a list with the major business electricity suppliers and their tariffs. This list is more like a guide and it is aimed to help you have a better understanding of how each business electricity suppliers charge business based on the amount of energy they consumer yearly.

The UK’s biggest energy suppliers, British Gas, EDF, E.ON, npower, Scottish Power, and Scottish & Southern Energy, all have tariffs designed specifically for business customers.

British Gas business electricity

British Gas (www.britishgas.co.uk), the UK’s largest energy supplier, offers two business electricity tariffs:

• Business electricity for small and medium businesses – For businesses that spend up to or less than £50,000 a year on their electricity bills. Rates are fixed for a set period, so you’ll always know what you’ll be paying each month.
• Business electricity for large businesses – For businesses that spend more than £50,000 a year on their electricity bills and/or have more than 20 sites. Choose from either fixed or flexible contracts.

British Gas supplies gas and electricity to over 950,000 businesses around the UK, and every customer has their own account manager. The account manager is responsible for arranging connections and metering services, as well as the registration and switchover process, and any billing or payment queries.

You can also opt for Green Electricity which uses energy from renewable resources, and could help reduce the amount of Climate Change Levy (CCL) your business has to pay.

EDF business electricity

French-owned energy supplier EDF (www.edfenergy.com) offers two business electricity tariffs:

• Business electricity for small and medium businesses – For businesses that spend up to or less than £30,000 a year on their electricity bills and have less than 20 sites. Prices are fixed for either one, two or three years, so you’ll always know what you’ll be paying each month. Bills are paid quarterly.
• Business electricity for large businesses – For businesses that spend more than £30,000 a year on their electricity bills and have more than 20 sites in the UK. Choose from either fixed or flexible contracts, and bills can be monthly or quarterly.

EDF has over 450,000 business customers, all benefiting from a choice of contract length, dedicated business advisers, and 2% off bills for choosing to pay by direct debit, as well as free energy efficiency advice to help cut your company’s fuel bills.

E.ON business electricity

Energy giant E.ON (www.eonenergy.com) has over 500,000 business customers and is one of the UK’s largest business energy suppliers. It has one business electricity tariff, designed for small and medium companies with less than 50 sites in the UK that use less than £100,000 worth of electricity a year. The deal offers:

• Fixed electricity prices guaranteed for the duration of your contract
• Either a one or three year contract
• A discount for paying bills by direct debit
• Free energy efficiency advice

Choosing a three year contract means you will be able to budget your energy costs for longer, protecting your business against electricity price increases for three years.

Npower business electricity

With over 300,000 business energy customers, Npower (www.npower.com) offers one business electricity tariff specifically for small and medium businesses that use less than £100,000 worth of electricity a year.

• Fixed electricity prices until 2010
• Energy efficiency advice to help lower your energy bills
• 2% discount for paying by direct debit.

Npower business customers are given a free e3 pack, which contains a free Electrisave monitor worth £79.95 (a smart meter), and all the energy efficiency tools and advice you need to reduce your energy bills by up to 25%.

Find out more about Npower’s business electricity tariff.

Scottish Power business electricity

Scottish Power (www.scottishpower.co.uk) has over 200,000 business customers and offers two business electricity tariffs:

• Business electricity for small and medium businesses – For businesses that use up to or less than 75,000kW of energy a year.
• Business electricity for large businesses – For businesses that use more than 75,000kW of energy a year.

Large businesses (with more than 25 sites) can benefit from internet invoicing, which gives customers access to up-to-date billing information whenever they want, and they can view up to 13 months’ historic data, including invoices and statements.

Scottish Power allows customers to pay in six different ways, including monthly/quarterly direct debit, using credit/debit cards and by cheque, cash or giro cheque. Businesses will receive a discount for opting to pay by direct debit.

Scottish & Southern Energy business gas

Scottish & Southern Energy has over 9 million customers in the UK. Its business customers can benefit from:

• Fixed prices for the entire contract period
• Contract packages with a variety of contract periods and payment methods to suit your business
• Experienced business energy advisers
• Local customer service centres in Scotland, England and Wales. Or the option of a visit from an experienced Business Energy Adviser to talk to you about your business energy needs.

Switching business energy suppliers can be a fast and easy process, not to mention that you could save up to 50% on your gas and energy bills. If you would like more information on our range of energy broker services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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CBI calls for immediate actions on delayed energy projects

The CBI has launched a warning to the Government on Monday (Aug 16th) about the risks of replacing the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) with a Major Infrastructure Unit could lead to further delay to energy projects as investors are still not confident about large-scale building projects.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) wants the Government to “get a grip” on planning for large-scale power generation projects so investors can feel confident in investing in such projects.

To make matters even worse the CBI revealed a “log-jam” in the IPC after identifying 37 power plant projects, equivalent to 17.5 GW, which are still awaiting Government approval.

Some of the projects, which include gas and coal fired power stations, on- and off-shore wind farms, biomass, wave and tidal projects, have been waiting three years for a decision.

Dr Neil Bentley, director of business environment at CBI, said: “The government must get a grip on planning. We need to build new low-carbon energy sources, including wind, biomass, gas, nuclear and clean coal plants. These are essential for securing our energy supplies and meeting emissions targets.”

“We already have a log-jam of delayed planning applications for major projects inherited from the previous government, and there is still uncertainty about how the new Major Infrastructure Unit will work in practice.”

To sum things up, Dr Bentley highlighted the fact that streamlined planning projects could be a smart move to encourage investment.

“In the next six months, the government must clear the backlog of delayed planning applications. This will send a strong signal to investors that it is serious about fixing the planning system,” Dr Bentley added.

If you would like more information on our range of energy broker services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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Renewable Energy News -  OTEC – Ocean Thermal Energy Conservation

Renewable energy is considered by many as the corner stone of Britain’s energy security. With North Sea oil and gas reserves declining and the recent nuclear fumble it is becoming ever true that we will have to rely heavily on renewable energy generation to keep the light on in Britain.

Green energy generation also plays a centre role when the subject is climate change. Across the globe scientists, researchers and engineers alike are developing innovative energy generating ideas using renewable resources.

Recently I was checking on the latest news about renewable energy generation and one thing has caught my attention; energy generation using deep sea water or Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC).

Ocean thermal energy conversion uses the temperature difference that exists between deep and shallow waters to run a heat engine. As with any heat engine, the greatest efficiency and power is produced with the largest temperature difference. This temperature difference generally increases with decreasing latitude, i.e. near the equator, in the tropics. Historically, the main technical challenge of OTEC was to generate significant amounts of power efficiently from this very small temperature ratio. Changes in efficiency of heat exchange in modern designs allow performance approaching the theoretical maximum efficiency. – Wikipedia

The video below explains in more detail how OTEC can generate energy. Despite not being a technology that we could use here in the UK, what really caught my attention was the fact that a single 100 Mw floating plant can generate 800 million Kw of electrical energy, without the need of oil, gas or any other fossil fuel. OTEC only needs the temperature difference between the ocean hot surface water and cold deep water.

If you would like more information on our range of energy broker services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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Energy Efficiency Q&A Round Two

As promised here we are with the second round of question and answers about energy efficiency. Today we will answer questions about rebound effect and negawatt, so if you want to find out the meaning of these terms keep on reading.

What does energy efficiency mean for businesses?

For a business, energy efficiency mostly applies to electrical appliances, heating equipment and everything else powered by electricity. Governments have pushed manufacturers to produce increasingly low-energy devices, such as desktop computers, televisions, refrigerators, freezers and a wide variety of electrical appliances used in each industry.

Simple energy efficiency measures at work include installing loft and wall insulation, draught-sealing windows and doors and replacing incandescent bulbs with efficient, modern CFLs and LED lights.

Cars are covered by a different energy efficiency scheme, which looks similar to the red-to-green EU Energy Label and ranks vehicles on their carbon emissions per kilometre (CO2 g/km). The most efficient modern cars emit less than CO2 100g/km, and all new cars in the EU will be required to – on average across European fleets – emit less than 130g/km by 2015. But this is content for another article, lets get back to energy efficiency.

What’s the rebound effect, and what does it mean for energy efficiency?

In 1865, William Stanley Jevons suggested that improvements in energy efficiency could result in unintended “rebound effects” – such as behavioural changes – that offset the energy savings. For example, greater fuel efficiency in cars may actually lead to motorists driving more frequently and for greater distances, cancelling out the environmental benefits of efficiency.

A report from Cambridge University earlier this year suggested that such rebound effects could cancel out 52% of anticipated energy efficiency savings by 2030.

What’s a negawatt?

The IEA suggests that energy efficiency should effectively be viewed as just another energy source, much like coal or wind power. Following the spirit of the IEA, the US scientist Amory Lovins suggested using the compound “negawatt” (negative-watt) as a unit for expressing the energy waste avoided through energy efficiency.

We have reached the end of the second of our Energy Efficiency Q&A. We would love to have a third round but for this we’ll need your help. Head to our Twitter account or Facebook Page and leave your questions there or if you prefer you can use our comments section below.

If you would like more information on our range of energy broker services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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How much electricity power do we waste at work

As a business person have you ever thought about avoiding wastage of  your electricity supply to further reduce costs? If you haven’t done so already, then you might want to ponder your thoughts on that just for a while. Electricity power is wasted in different ways, and some of them are not quite  as obvious as you think.  Here are some pointers that will give you an idea:

1) Standby Power

Standby power is usually the power consumed by electronic appliances when they are in the standby mode. While using the standby mode for devices when you don’t use them is a good idea, substituting it for a shut down can be detrimental. In order to help the device in standby mode maintain its previous state, some power is used, which increases your expenses by quite a substantial amount over the long run. Therefore, use the standby mode when you go on a coffee break, however, remember to shut the appliance down when you leave for the day.

2) Overuse of cable modems and computers

While using cable modems, you might notice that they are left switched on at all times even when they are not in use.  It is usually assumed that computers draw almost an equal amount of power in the same way as a perfectly working refrigerator, which is between 70 – 250 watts. Therefore, you might want to take a closer look at how you use this equipment to save on your energy expenses.

3) Excessively charging your equipment

Do you have the habit of leaving the phone connected to the charger throughout the night? Do you always use AC power supply when you work on your laptop? Over charging battery-run equipments will further add to your expenses, and over time, these products will start consuming more electric power to run efficiently.

One way to avoid this is to unplug the gadget from its charger once it’s charged. On the other hand, if you’re too busy all the time to do that, you might want to purchase chargers that come equipped with a system capable of halting the power supply when the equipment is fully charged.

4) Plugged in phone charges

Look under the desk in  most businesses and you will probably find a mobile phone charger that has been left plugged in with no phone on the end.  What most people don’t realise is that even without the phone plugged in, the plug is still using the same amount of power.  Therefore avoid wasting excess power by removing these from the sockets when not in use.

5) Office Computers

Because of the increased boot up time of the new windows platforms such as Windows Vista, many people choose to leave their office computers on all night and over the weekend to avoid waiting for the lengthy boot up process in the morning.  Unfortunately your modern day computer is a hive of electrical activity when not in use, and a number of computers left on, can drain serious amounts of power over the course of a year.  Avoid this by switching computers off or using software to automatically schedule your computers to shut down and power back up at the right time.  Our PC Powerdown software allows you to activate your own schedule for only £12 per PC, an investment that will easily be paid for in just a matter of months.

If you would like more information on our range of energy services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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