A London airport has invested £10,000 in solar-powered lighting systems in a bid to cut its energy usage.

London City Airport (LCY) has installed two guard lights (pictured), commonly known as Wig-Wags, at its runway entry points which are expected to run for 120 days without recharging.

The airport currently produces around 6,000 tonnes of carbon emissions mainly from gas and electricity and the solar lights will help towards reducing the airport’s emissions. It is also investing in a new building management system, enabling centrally-controlled temperature and lighting in all public areas.

Kevin Wincell, Airfield Operations Manager at London City Airport said: “The solar-powered systems will not only save energy and help reduce the airport’s carbon emissions, they will also represent a financial saving in the longer term. We are currently exploring other options in terms of installing LEDs for airfield lighting and will continue to look for ways in which we can improve energy and cost efficiency by advances in new technology.”

Earlier this year LCY was recognised for its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and became Airport Carbon Accredited – the fourth in the UK.

It also bought an on-site fuel facility from oil giant BP in April this year.

A British demolition firm has been awarded a contract to dismantle a series of gas containers in Battersea in London.

One of them set to be demolished by Coleman and Company is situated only a few metres away from the Victoria underground line and is equivalent to a 40-storey building in height.

The firm said the contract has helped boost its order book to more than £12 million.

Mark Coleman, Managing Director of Coleman and Company said: “In recent years we have focused on developing some unique skills to tackle the most challenging demolition tasks. For example, our approach to dismantling highly flammable gas holders has been recognised worldwide and this month we are presenting in Milan at the EDA (European Demolition Association) on the topic.”

The project starts later this year and is expected to take more than 12 months to complete.

A Turkish manufacturer has slashed its energy usage by 12%, thanks to the loan provided by a London-based bank.

The $9 million (£5.84m) loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) helped Sinbo – a manufacturer of household appliances such as bread-making machines, hairdryers and electric fans – install energy efficiency measures in its factory (pictured) in Avcilar, outside Istanbul.

The company upgraded its heating and cooling systems, replaced old motors and lighting and insulated the factory, which helped reduce its energy costs.

According to the EBRD, Turkey imports 70% of it energy needs and consumption is expected to double in the next 10 years.

Thames Water has said the average bill for its customers could rise by nearly £100 a year in the next seven years.

The nation’s biggest water company is proposing a 1%-a-year above-inflation increase between 2015 and 2020, which will leave the average customer with a bill of around £450 a year.

The firm said the cash would help fund major infrastructure upgrades, including a new £4.1 billion super sewer to cope with London’s rising population.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We are proposing 1%-a-year above-inflation bill rises between 2015 and 2020 to help fund essential upgrades to our ageing pipes, sewers and other facilities so we can continue providing high-quality, affordable services to our customers while keeping pace with population growth, climate change, new laws and regulations and rising energy costs.

“We propose that by 2019-20 our average household bill will be £370 a year before inflation, up from £354 today. This excludes the cost of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, which is to set result in a maximum bill impact of £70-80 a year by the early 2020s.”

The company added its customers’ bills are the second-lowest in the country “at less than £1 a day per household”.

The water watchdog said firms need to “listen to their customers” and show they have done all they can to set plans that is “acceptable and affordable” to consumers.

Steve Hobbs, Policy Manager at Consumer Council for Water added: “People are struggling with bills at the moment and any company looking at an above inflation rise needs to consider this and demonstrate that it has explained to customers the reasons for the proposed increase and what they stand to benefit. This needs to be acceptable to customers and we will be looking for evidence of this in the Price Review.

“Even though Thames has the Tideway to deliver there will be pressure on the company to keep the cost of this project to a minimum. Previous estimates have shown the impact on bills of the Tideway would be between £70 and £80 and past research has shown this is more than customers are willing to pay.”

Earlier this year Thames Water announced it will be using fat from restaurants and build-ups in drains to power the sewage works in Beckton.

Planning permission has been granted for a new energy from waste plant in south London.

The so-called ‘energy recovery facility’ (ERF) at waste firm Viridor’s recycling and landfill site in Beddington will collect rubbish from the boroughs of Kingston, Sutton, Merton and Croydon.

At the moment these South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) boroughs handle 400,000 tonnes of waste every year. The new plant could take up to 95% of this landfill waste, potentially saving the boroughs £200 million over the 25-year-long contract and emit 128,000 fewer tonnes of CO2e every year than if the waste went to landfill.

When built the plant will generate 26MW of electricity, enough to power the plant and roughly 30,000 homes according to Viridor.

The power plant could also pump its waste heat to local schools and businesses, with plans stating: “The proposed location of the ERF is ideal given the number of potential large energy users in the immediate vicinity that may be able to benefit from this cost-effective and secure energy supply.”

Robert Ryan, Head of Development Projects at Viridor said: “It is great news that the committee recognised by granting us planning permission that our proposed ERF is the right solution for South London’s waste challenge and is one that will deliver real economic, social and environmental benefits. It is a safe and cost-effective long-term alternative to landfill, recovering resources and reducing costs to the tax payer.”

He said the local community should be reassured by the Environment Agency’s recent announcement they were “minded” to grant an Environmental Permit to operate the facility.

A London-based bank has provided loan a worth €106 million (£90.8m) to help Kazakhstan upgrade its electricity networks.

The Central Asian Electric Power Corporation (CAEPCO) will use the cash to reduce heat and electricity losses – which means more efficiency and less pollution – and will also upgrade energy generators and electricity distribution networks in the cities of Pavlodar and Petropavlovsk.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has also granted a €400,000 (£342,500) loan to the Ministry of Environmental Protection to improve environmental standards and more than €160,000 (£137,030) for energy efficiency-associated audits and research.

The improvements are expected to save almost half a million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.

Sir Suma Chakrabarti, EBRD President said: “We support the Government’s drive to have a greener and more efficient country. What makes this deal even more important is that this improvement in efficiency will be made by a private company. We call on the government to raise standards in the industry to international levels, which will enable entrepreneurs to help the country go greener.”

CAEPCO accounts for nearly 6% of electricity production in Kazakhstan, serving almost a million customers.

The EBRD also recently provided £3.3 million for energy efficiency in Kosovo and more than £50 million for a new Montenegro-Italy interconnector.

Householders and businesses in Kosovo (pictured) will soon be able to implement energy efficiency measures and invest in renewable projects following a €5 million (£3.3m) loan provided by a London-based bank.

The loan to TEB, the fourth largest bank in the country, is believed to be the first under the new Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects Framework (KoSEP) approved by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The scheme aims to increase public awareness of potential energy efficiency gains through the investments.

Renewable sources of energy only account 3% of total energy usage in Kosovo currently and the Government aims to more than double the share by 2015.

Henry E. Russell, EBRD Director – Western Balkans, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine said: “The launch of the KoSEP framework marks our strategic priority to support the sustainable development of Kosovo’s energy sector on a wider scale as outlined in our country strategy. It is not a coincidence that we start our support to the sector from the energy efficiency angle.

“The framework will demonstrate the benefits of energy conservation and rational energy utilisation for business and households in times of increasing electricity prices. Lower energy costs will strengthen the competitiveness of local enterprises and reduce the burden on households.”

A London-based investment firm has announced a £10 million fund to replace inefficient heating systems in public and private facilities with biomass boilers.

Equitix is investing £4.9 million through its Energy Saving Investment fund, in which the UK’s Green Investment Bank (GIB) is an investor. It is also sourcing a further £5.1 million from its Energy Efficiency Fund, with the investments being managed by energy services company Roundwood Energy.

The investment is expected to support more then 60 projects, which GIB claims could help customers save up to 30% on their energy bills. The boilers will be fuelled by sustainably sourced wood pellets, which could cut around 150,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over the 20-year life of the investment.

Shaun Kingsbury, Chief Executive of the GIB said: “Today’s announcement will provide a low-cost and straightforward way for a range of organisations like schools, leisure centres and local businesses to switch their old, inefficient and high emission boilers for new energy efficient biomass ones; saving energy, cutting emissions and saving them money.”

Earlier this year ELN reported the GIB invested in an offshore wind project and an NHS energy innovation centre.

London’s art gallery Tate Modern (pictured) will soon get its heating and hot water demand from waste heat recovered from an electricity substation.

UK Power Networks will use heat recovered as a by-product from its £60 million refurbished electricity substation Bankside. Engineering group Arup, which is also working on the project, claims the system is expected to provide around 7,000MWh of heat and save up to 1,400 tonnes of carbon emissions every year compared to conventional gas-fired boilers.

The substation receives electricity from the grid at 132,000 volts and a set of transformers convert it to 20,000 and 11,000 volts for distribution across London in underground cables. During the process, heat loss from the transformers is released naturally in the air but the pipes installed at Bankside will help capture and recycle that heat into the adjoining art gallery.

Paul Dyer, UK Power Networks’ Transformer Specialist said: “In all the major cities in the world there will be lots of opportunities to install heat recovery. It can only work where the substation is in close proximity to the building using the heat and urban areas have the potential to work best.

“One of the barriers to implementing heat recovery on a wider scale at the moment are the initial capital costs. However, the hope is that as more of these projects are developed, the costs might be reduced.”

The award-winning initiative got £800,000 from Ofgem’s Innovation Funding Incentive and £200,000 from the Tate Modern. More than 1,300 people worked on the project and 1,200 tonnes of metal as well as 150,000 litres of oil were recycled.

The city of London is lagging behind on solar installations compared to other parts of the country, according to a new report.

It found London boroughs make up 23 out of the 25 lowest ranking local authorities and the capital fell in the bottom 10 in the national league table. The boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Tower Hamlets, the City of London and Hammersmith and Fulham are listed in the bottom five.

With 362,000 homes having solar panels installed in the UK since April 2010, the analysis by consultancy group WSP revealed the highest average solar installations are in rural areas such as mid Wales and Cornwall, while London and the West Midlands are far behind.

Mid Devon was found to be the “solar panel capital” of the UK, with Wrexham and South Hams in the second and third position. Westminster in London, however, has an installation rate of a mere one in every 2,500 households.

The report stated: “If solar panels are going to be one of our green energies of the future then there’s still plenty to do. Poorer performer housing associations have to be highlighted, there needs to be more trust in energy companies and installers and – ultimately – panels have to become more efficient and cheaper still.”