The Republic of Ireland government is to launch a €130 million fund for energy efficiency and domestic renewables in a bid to combat fuel poverty in the country.

The Conservative Party’s candidate for the London Mayoralty Zac Goldsmith has said he wants London to be the “greenest city on Earth” and eyed a greater adoption of electric vehicles to solve its air pollution problem.

The biggest threat to the UK’s clean energy sector is a lack of certainty and clarity over government policy Rob Gross, director at Imperial College London’s centre for energy policy, has said.

Energy secretary Amber Rudd has said the UK can become “a home for energy innovation” and has pledged to support businesses working on new energy efficiency technologies.

Biomass firm Innasol has called on the UK government to extend its commitments to the Renewable Heat Incentive if it is to reach its goal after last week’s degression.

New research conducted by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) has claimed the UK could save up to £3 billion a year in energy expenditure by implementing “immediate, practical, cost effective steps” to improve efficiency.

Newly installed heating and hot water systems must now display energy efficiency labels rating each system after EU legislation came into force last weekend.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change has revealed plans to carry out sweeping reforms of business energy efficiency tax incentives and reporting procedures, including the potential abolition of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme.

The Committee on Climate Change chairman Lord Deben has called upon the government to take urgent action to fill a policy gap created by clean energy cuts and sought clarification on where the government’s green policy is headed.