My house is roughly a hundred years old. The new houses built today may not last that long but, in general, the houses of the next 50 years are going ...

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I am also vey wary about the overall concept of microgeneration.  If a substantial fraction of out electricity were going to be provided by micro...

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"what are the big power generating companies going to do about the loss of business?"
Well, if I have my own wind/ solar powered genera...

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Rising  prices and restricted supply is not a problem for the power generators (in fact it can be an opportunity to increase their pr... Whole Thread | Post Reply

This week on the Naked Scientists we’re saving money and saving the environment with the very latest efficient technology for our homes. From solar cells to brilliant boilers, we’ll be finding out how scientists are going green – and the challenges faced by designers trying to incorporate eco-ideas into housing developments.

Steal my sunshine

Mention solar power in the UK and you’ll be met with a raised eyebrow, although a surprising amount of solar energy is trapped here.  But solar technology comes into its own in many of the hotter parts of the world, such as Australia.

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki – the voice of Australia’s Triple J Radio science shows has plastered his roof with solar cells.  But is his cunning plan working?  We’ll be hearing about his solar array, finding out how efficient it really is, and if he’ll ever get back the costs of installing it.

Come on baby, light my fire

All over the world our demand for energy is rising, and the fossil fuels that we rely on to produce it are dwindling – as well as producing gases that contribute to global warming.  To help address this crisis – and keep your toes warm in winter - boiler manufacturers Baxi have developed the Baxi Ecogen, a Combined Heat and Power boiler.

We’ll be joined by Elaine Ball from Baxi, to explain how the boiler uses the heat produced from heating your home and hot water to generate up to 1 kiloWatt of electricity.  Could this be the solution to our domestic energy crisis – and could you actually make money by selling your excess electricity?

I’m a survivor

Also this week, we’ve sent Meera along to the Science of Survival exhibition at the Science Museum.  It’s a hands-on exhibition designed to show families how their futures could be affected by the changing environment.   In particular, some experts predict that our major challenge may not be the availability of fuel, but whether we have enough clean water to drink.  It makes sense to start saving this precious fluid now, so we’ll be hearing some of the top tips for saving water from the independent organisation WaterWise.  Of course, here at the Naked Scientists we save water by not having to wash any clothes…

Build me up, Buttercup

Finally, we’re joined on the show by Asif Din, an architect from Bill Dunster Architects.  They're responsible for the BedZED project, the Beddington Zero Energy Development in Surrey.  BedZED will contain 82 homes, clad in special insulating materials that store heat when it’s warm to release when it gets chilly.  Most of the building materials are reclaimed or recycled, and the development will generate much of its power from renewable sources.

Asif will be telling us about the challenges architects face when trying to design eco-friendly homes. Creating a carbon-neutral housing development that ultimately produces more energy than it takes to build sounds like an eco-warrior’s fantasy, but it could become reality in leafy Surrey.

To find out more, tune into the clean, green Naked Scientists team this week.