
Positive News: how small businesses can benefit from installing solar panels
The team at Positive News recently interviewed Simon Nicholls, managing director of UK renewable energy developer Olympus Power, about how small businesses could benefit from installing solar panels on their rooftops. The interview covers: likely installation costs, payback times, building requirements, and more. Stay up-to-date with the latest news The Sparks newsletter by Energy Solutions Oxfordshire…

O2 to cut emissions from data centres through energy efficiency improvements
O2 has announced that they have invested in innovative energy-efficient cooling equipment to regulate the temperature of data centres and core network sites. These will replace traditional electric-powered air conditioning and transitional gas-based refrigeration. In 2016, it was reported that the world’s data centres used more than Britain’s total annual electricity consumption – 416.2TWh, significantly higher than the…

Is it possible for an historic building to become carbon neutral?
In the UK we’re lucky to have a wealth of historic and listed buildings. Some of these are homes, but many operate as businesses, often in the hospitality or tourism industries. Older buildings tend to have more complex issues when it comes to energy being wasted in the building, and they require a specific approach.…

All but two regions are failing on school energy efficiency in the UK
UK schools are missing targets on reducing energy use per pupil. New data released shows that Yorkshire & the Humber and the North East are the only regions where schools have collectively reduced how much they spend on energy per pupil, cutting expenditure by 4.4% and 0.9% respectively. Every other region of England increased its…

Research shows that commercial buildings must reduce energy use by 80% to meet net zero targets
Research published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) found that to meet the government’s net zero targets, commercial buildings must reduce their energy use by up to 80%. The research determined that a typical commercial building uses 284 kWhe/m2, compared to the 55-70 kWhe/m2 which would be needed by 2050 to comply…