A dramatic increase in the number of homes in the UK being fitted with solar photovoltaics (PV) systems has madeus the fastest-growing market for the technology in the world.According to research by iSuppli, installations of PV systems in the UK will amount to 96MW in 2010, representing a 1,500 per cent increase on the 6MW of energy generated by the technology in 2009.This far outstrips the growth rate of the UK's nearest rival Spain, which iSuppli estimates to be 730 per cent this year.

The Department for Transport has been given the go ahead to set up a grant scheme to help people buy ultra-low carbon cars. UK motorists - including individuals and business fleet buyers - will be able to access a grant to fund up to 25% of the up-front cost (to a maximum amount of £5,000) of purchasing an ultra-low carbon vehicle. The scheme is due to launch in January 2011 and will provide £43m in grant funding.

If you've been thinking of doing your bit for the environment and saving money by installing solar panels, then you're in very good company. Plans to install solar panels on the roof of Clarence House have been submitted to Westminster City Council. The London home of the Prince of Wales could be fitted with photovoltaic panels if the idea is approved by councillors and planners at the central London authority. Under the scheme 32 solar panels would be fitted to the south-east facing roof of the building. If the scheme goes ahead then Prince Charles would be eligible to make money from his renewables via Feed In Tariffs (FITs).

Under this scheme energy suppliers make regular payments to householders and communities who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources such as solarphotovoltaic (PV) panels or wind turbines. Householders would receive payment for generating electricity units and receive a further payment for units they export to the National Grid.

UK primary and secondary schools are being invited to join a Europe-wide project in which 8-14 year old pupils will become Carbon Detectives on a mission to find their school’s carbon waste and ways of eliminating it. The Carbon Detectives programme is being operated in the UK by BRE.

It will engage pupils and teachers in fun, interactive activities that help schools to become more sustainable, while delivering Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) elements into the curriculum and sharing experiences with other schools across Europe. Carbon Detectives is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme, and in the UK by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Education and CREATE.

If your school is interested in getting involved, register your interest on the Carbon Detectives' website. The programme will help you work out your school’s carbon footprint andgive you access to arange of new teaching materials, planning tools and carbon calculators to help reduce it.

SAVE WATER SAVE MONEY

As part of Severn Trent Water's commitment to water and energy efficiency, Severn Trent Water is working with E.ON to offer every household a FREE E.ON ShowerSave to help you reduce your utility bills by up to £40* every year.Using unique state-of-the-art flow regulator technology, the E.ON ShowerSave creates a constant flow of 7.6 litres of water every minute, independent of changes in water pressure and it minimises any variations in temperature too.Benefits

• Saves you up to £40* a year off your water & energy bills.
• Delivers an enjoyable showerat a constant flow of 7.6 litres per minute
• It'll take you just a couple of minutes to fit- no plumber required.
• Comes with a 15 year warranty on flow rate control element.

For further information on how to save water and save money, follow the link below:

http://www.stwater-savewatersavemoney.co.uk/product/kit-shower-regulator/742

Please note: NOT SUITABLE for electric showers or those with multiple jets.One per household. Offer applies to domestic householdsin England, Scotland& Wales. Subject to availability. Please allow up to 28 days for delivery. You do not need to be an E.ON customer to request a device.

* Savings are based on reducing your water consumption by 12.28m-cubed/year based on a metered water cost of 214.45p/m-cubed (resulting in a £26.33 reduction on your water metered water bill), and your gas consumption reduced by 447.6kWh/year with a gas price of 3.025p/kWh (resulting in a £13.54 reduction on your gas bill as of 26/04/10), after installing the E.ON ShowerSave

Kegworth Environment Group have enjoyed a successful open garden event to help raise funds for the group. As well as selling plants and local honey, the group gave out reusable shopping bags and information on bees and how to prevent their decline. If you are a local Kegworth resident and are potentially interested in getting involved you can contact the group via the Green Footprints team.

The sun brought out the crowds to Picnic in the Park and the Green Footprints team were on hand to engage local people on the Footprints themes of: waste & recycling, litter, energy, wildlife and transport.

The new bike generators were a real hit with children who were able to pedal to produce electricity to run lights and a scalectrix track. The generators came from the BBC 1 Bang Goes the Theory: Human Powerstation show and demonstrated how much energy is needed to run various household appliances. It takes just one person to power a lightbulb but up to 70 cycling flat out to run an electric shower.

Friends of Thringstone recently joined in with the Geocache Network to do a litter pick around Thringstone, hunting for buried treasure along the way. A total of 21 people collected 39 bags of rubbish, plus a carpet, a worktop, fence panels and wood and a child's bike.

Chairman Nita Pearson said,

"It was great to work with the Geocache network. Some of their members came from as far away as Countesthorpe and Hinckley to collect litter with us, which is a great testament to their group. We were delighted to remove so much rubbish from our village and especially pleased that some young people came to join us in our litter pick, including a baby in a buggy!"

All litter pickers were treated to a free meal at the community centre afterwards to thank them for giving of their time.

The Veg Factor ‘Grow Your Own’ event held on an Ashby housing estate during the sunshine of half-term week has proved a huge success. The event was organised by Nursery Farm Residents’ Association, the Green Footprints team and MRC Action.

The group had drummed up lots of interest from local families who turned out in force and had great fun potting up their own vegetables and trying out different activities. Forty free compost bins were also quickly snapped up for residents to use in their own gardens. By the end of the day 50 local families were able to carry home their own pot of tomatoes, courgettes, lettuce, dwarf beans and alpine strawberries.

Philip James Dillon-Oakes, Chairman of Nursery Farm Residents’ Association, said: “This has been a fantastic event and really well supported by people on the estate. Everyone has really enjoyed themselves and we’re really excited as many of the people who attended have expressed an interest in getting involved with a community garden. We’ll be running a follow up event in August to find out how successful everyone has been with their vegetables and then we’ll be looking to take the community garden idea a step further.”

The Friends of Thringstone and Thringstone Scouts have joined forces to build a new raised flowerbed for the village. The joint community project saw a Saturday morning workforce of volunteers come together to construct the flowerbed, which the Scout group will use as evidence for their application towards the Queen’s Award.