BRITISH GAS ANNOUNCE PRICE RISE THIS MONTH!

British Gas the UK´s biggest supplier of Gas and Electricity have anounced that they will be increasing their prices as early as this month. Electricity is set to rise around 10% and Gas a whopping 19%.

If there is any time to start looking at renewabl eenergy is there any time better than now? A rise this time of 18% or 19% in gas prices - and presumably a bit less in electricity prices - would reduce households' spending power at a time when that spending power is already being squeezed more painfully than for almost 35 years. This in turn will impact businesses already strugling to make a profit.

Read more about this on the BBC Website

SOLAR POWER CARS FOR THE MASSES! CAN THIS REALLY BE TRUE?

With the recent hike in household energy costs and the wallet splitting costs at the fuel pump, wouldn´t it be good if you could reduce the costs of both all at once? Well now you can with a solar PV system.

When we talk about solar powered cars we think of a car that has a huge solar panel on the roof and can only go out in the daylight. However this is not the case, the new Nissan Leaf is an ordinary electric car for the masses. You can charge the battery by plugging it in to your mains electricity and when fully charged can expect around 100 miles travel. Its a fantastic little car for using to travel to work and around the town and it doesn´t look much different to any other car on the road.

However Here is the impressive bit! If you have a Solar PV system on your house, the Nissan Leaf can be charged up for free through your solar panels giving you a full charge and around 100 miles for the cost of nothing!!  Watch this video from the programme Fully Charged explaining on how it can be done!!

The Car

The car is driven by a 90kW (120hp) electric motor, which gains its power from a 345V, 24kWh, air-cooled battery pack, consisting of 48 flat, netbook-sized modules, each containing four lithium-ion cells.

The battery pack, designed jointly by NEC and Nissan, is charged via the mains using the Leaf's 3.3kW on-board battery charger -- located adjacent to the battery pack in the rear -- or via an external 440V quick charger. It can also be trickle-charged by the Leaf's regenerative braking system, which converts the kinetic energy achieved under braking to electrical energy.

Wallingford's Business Park One of the First to Use Solar Energy!

Howbery Business Park in Wallingford is one of the first to utilise a solar panel array to supply their electricity. The Business Park is now using over 3000 Solar PV panels and is now generationg the equivelant energy to power 200 homes!

"Howbery Business Park will be one of only a few business parks in the UK where occupiers are able to secure a direct electrical supply from a solar array." John Ormston, chief executive of the park

To read more on this please click on the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-13931015

RISING ENERGY COSTS A BIG FOCUS FOR GOVERNMENT

With the recent hikes in the cost of energy from Scottish Power and with the other energy companies soon to follow, the government hasn´t been shy in mentioning the problem. The issue has been approached from all angles, one being David Cameron being asked if he and the other 21 millionaires in the Cabinet will cope with the rising energy costs at PM´s Question Time.

See a Video of this on the BBC News website!


In Scotland the Economy Secretery John Swinney seems to be out on a mission to get some answers when he meets Scottish Power over the recent price rises.

Read more on the BBC about this.

Chris Huhne, the UK's energy secretary, is telling that company's customers to shop around for better value. He doesn't seem to have noticed that industry experts, and inexperts besides, all expect other energy suppliers to follow Scottish Power's unpopular lead.

But could it be this has a lot to do with choices the politicians have been making, or failing to make?

GREENTEAM SPONSOR OLDHAM BOXING CLUB CHARITY EVENT

Oldham Boxing Club are hosting a charity event in aid of the Victoria House Campaign. Former boxing champion Ricky Hatton said plans to convert a derelict building in Oldham into a gym will give a "boost" to the local community.

Oldham Council have given the disused Victoria House on Greaves Street to the Oldham Boxing and Personal Development Centre (OBPDC).

The plan is to turn it into a community hub, something which Mr Hatton praised.

He said he knew "what a boost schemes like this can give, as they provide opportunities for the whole community".

Mr Hatton, who runs a gym in Hyde, Greater Manchester, said the project had "my full support because not only is it providing the people of Oldham with state-of-the-art fitness and learning facilities, but it is also breathing new life into a building that has been empty for years".

"As a gym owner, I know what a boost schemes like this can give an area as they provide opportunities for the whole community to take advantage of," he said.

"I would like to congratulate Eric [Noi, club leader] and his team for the good work they are already doing in Oldham and would urge the local community, organisations and businesses to get behind their efforts, so the plans for Victoria House can get up and running."

OBPDC had been searching for a new home after a Compulsory Purchase Order was served on their existing gym on Derker Street, as part of Oldham Council's Derker Housing Market Renewal scheme.

Having secured Victoria House from the council, the club are now working with the Amateur Boxing Association of England to secure funding to refurbish the building and want to open it by the end of 2011.

Oldham councillor Dave Hibbert said the authority was committed to helping the club and centre transform the building.

"We are delighted to have found the centre and its many users a new home," he said.

"Once work on Victoria House is completed, it will be a real asset and yet another building block in the town centre's regeneration."

Victoria House was used as a snooker hall, college and housing office for the council before closing in 1999.

Greenteam Renewables Limited are an official sponsor of this event.

Information from BBC News Website

HOW MUCH ENERGY DOES THE SUN REALLY PRODUCE?

We are constantly hearing more and more about the advantages of Solar Energy. Fossil fuels are getting harder to extract from the earth, stocks are falling and costs are going up around the globe. So, if fossil fuels and other energy sources were to run out now, would there be enough energy reaching the earth each day to fuel the mass demand of our domestic energy in our mega cities and metropelis´???

New technologies are advancing and it is increasingly becoming easier to harness the energy from the sun, but is this feasible? Does the Sun really produce enough free energy for us to fuel our massive demand?

The link below shows the BBC´s professor Brian Cox´s explanation of how much energy from the sun is sent to the earth each day. Make your own mind up on the questions above!

The sun's energy on earth - Wonders of the Solar System - BBC

Greenteam Launch New Website

Greenteam Renewables Ltd are the newest Renewable Energy company based in the North West of England. They are priding themselves as being the Norths experts in the field of renewable energy and will be working with colleges and councils around the contry providing information and expertees.

June 6th saw the launch of their new website www.greenteam-renewables.com. This ever expanding website will provide information about the renewable energy industry and will also keep you up to date with the current projects the company will be undertaking. Also, they will soon be opening a new Solar PV Panel show room in the Centre of Oldham so that interested customers and clients can pop in for a presentation and demonstration of how the systems work.