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People in Wales need full insulation in their homes if the country is going to improve its carbon footprint, according to the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman.
Mick Bates, who is also chair of the Welsh National Assembly's all-party sustainability committee, made the statement after a report claimed the country had one of the world's worst carbon footprints, reports Wales on Sunday.
He added that an increase in public transport and more investment in addressing the problem are vital if the country is to improve its reputation.
Mr Bates told the newspaper: 'Everyone needs full insulation in their houses, we need to make sure there is enough public transport and make sure the Carbon Trust gets in and does a lot of work with industries.
The installation of insulation in homes across the UK has been a major concern over recent weeks with winter on its way.
Back in England, local authorities in Lincoln, Harrow and Peterborough are among those offering free and discounted insulation to the elderly and other residents with low incomes.
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The installation of insulation was a key feature of a home makeover carried out on a family home in Berkshire, as part of a TV show designed to prove it is possible to live a low-carbon life.
Insulation was added to the home of the Armotrading Family in Maidenhead by the BBC for its Outrageous Waster show.
It was installed along with a polytunnel to grow food, chickens and a compost toilet during a week in which the family was sent to Wales to live a low-carbon life off the land.
The importance of insulation both as a way of lowering emissions and a way to cut bills by saving energy has been repeatedly emphasised by organisations such as the Warm Homes Scheme, which provides grants to help those on low incomes to install insulation and other energy efficiency measures in their homes.
Following a meeting with scheme administrators in Northern Ireland, Sinn Feinn anti-poverty spokesperson Claire McGill said: 'The incorporation of Warm Home measures into your home will help to substantially cut home energy bills and as such are key elements in combating fuel poverty', the Ulster Herald reports.
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Householders in the north-east are enjoying the benefits of insulation thanks to new schemes aimed at making homes more energy efficient.
Not-for-profit organisation Warmzone has been operating in Newcastle and Gateshead with a mission to reduce poverty by helping poorer households to save money on their heating bills, reports the Journal.
The organisation works by finding households which could qualify for free help to install insulation and then providing advice and assistance to ensure this is done.
Gateshead Warmzone has managed to get £500,000 worth of hitherto unclaimed benefits to residents in this way.
In nearby Sunderland another insulation scheme has literally got off to a flyer.
Around 30 homes in the city are to receive free insulation to offset the carbon emissions produced by the upcoming Sunderland Airshow, 24dash reports.
By doing this, airshow organisers hope to make the event the first carbon-neutral airshow in Europe.
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Householders in the north-east are enjoying the benefits of insulation thanks to new schemes aimed at making homes more energy efficient.
Not-for-profit organisation Warmzone has been operating in Newcastle and Gateshead with a mission to reduce poverty by helping poorer households to save money on their heating bills, reports the Journal.
The organisation works by finding households which could qualify for free help to install insulation and then providing advice and assistance to ensure this is done.
Gateshead Warmzone has managed to get £500,000 worth of hitherto unclaimed benefits to residents in this way.
In nearby Sunderland another insulation scheme has literally got off to a flyer.
Around 30 homes in the city are to receive free insulation to offset the carbon emissions produced by the upcoming Sunderland Airshow, 24dash reports.
By doing this, airshow organisers hope to make the event the first carbon-neutral airshow in Europe.
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A new report has recommended to Cumbria County Council that it use sheep's wool insulation in order to lower its carbon footprint.
The environment scrutiny panel of the council listed the measure as one of ten actions the authority could take in order to reduce emissions, the north-west Evening Mail reports.
A council spokesman told the paper: 'Some of our buildings are very old and putting sheeps' wool in them could be complicated.
'But I think new buildings could be greener and brought up to 21st century specifications.'
The adaptation of sheep's wool to become an insulation material was pioneered in the county by Second Nature, based near Penrith, which invented Thermafleece, a material consisting of 90 per cent sheep's wool.
While Cumbria ponders moves to be more eco-friendly, Scots have got the insulation message better than anyone else in Britain, according to a new survey.
Loft insulation is one of many measures that people north of the border are increasingly turning to, reports the Edinburgh Evening News.
However, the paper adds, there is a long way to go, with 69 per cent of Edinburgh residents having never enquired about their eligibility for grants to fit insulation.
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Climate change will alter the type of insulation needed in Britain's buildings, a property developer has said.
Roger Stanhope, chief executive of Stanhope PLC, said that in future buildings would need to install the type of insulation that keeps summer heat out as well as insulation to save warmth in winter, the Guardian reports.
The report also notes that climate change is altering the behaviour of power companies to meet the changes global warming is bringing about, with companies like British Gas adding a green service arm through which it would sell energy efficient items, including insulation, to make up for a future shortfall in energy demand.
While climate change has now been broadly accepted by most scientists working in the field, a United Nations report published today suggested that global warming can be stopped.
It concluded the right use of technology and a stabilisation of greenhouse gases by 2015 could limit the rises to no more than two degrees C above pre-industrial temperatures.
This contradicts the views of those who have suggested the climate has already reached a tipping point beyond which warming is unstoppable.
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An architect specialising in eco-friendly and energy efficient buildings has said the use of hemp and lime insulation is crucial in the battle against climate change.
Professor Tom Woolley of Queens University Belfast told the BBC that a mixture of the two substances on existing brick buildings improved their insulation, a crucial factor in reducing the level of emissions.
He also hailed the use of the materials in new buildings such as York's eco-depot.
Professor Woolley's comments come as the BBC remarked on the large number of environmental consultancies at London's Think 07 trade fair.
It states that an emphasis on creating eco-friendly housing, in which insulation may play an important part, is likely to for a major part of the United Nations' third report on climate change when it is published this week.
Also in London, mayor Ken Livingston has issued a press release advising residents in the capital that the offer of cut-price insulation under a partnership between his office and British Gas has been extended until July 1st.
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The Liberal Democrats have unveiled a series of new energy efficiency policy proposals, including what the party has dubbed energy mortgages, which are designed to encourage householders to become more energy efficient.
Under the scheme, homeowners would be able to borrow against their properties for energy-saving measures, which could include better roofing or the installation of better insulation, with the savings on fuel bills making up the extra cost of the new loan.
Party leader Sir Menzies Campbell said the measure was required because homes that already exist now will still account for three-quarters of housing stock in use in the year 2050.
He said: 'People are paying high fuel bills because their homes too easily lose energy.
'These proposals will help people save the environment and cut bills.'
The party has said that if Britain can reduce its household emissions from 27 per cent of total national emissions to the Swedish level of five per cent, this would save the average UK household £835 a year in energy bills.
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Insulation made from recycled rags is one of the new innovative features that will be part of the eco-homes development commencing construction in Sheffield today.
The Norfolk Park development replaces a series of tower blocks that have been demolished, with the land given over free by the city council for the new homes, which will be sold at 70 per cent of their market value, the BBC reports.
According to builders Wilgoose Construction, innovative insulation will be combined with other eco-friendly devices to bring energy bills down to just £100 a year, the report continues.
It is the latest of many cases where unusual materials have been used for insulation.
Writing in the London Evening Standard earlier this month, Alan Simpson, Member of Parliament in for Nottingham South, explained how he converted a house in the city into an eco-home, with stone wool, a natural volcanic material, used as insulation.
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Homeowners in Shetland have been urged to run eco-friendly households in order to cut Scotland's annual fuel bill, it has been reported.
According to the Shetland Times, the Home Heat helpline has found that energy inefficiency and poor insulation is costing the country an extra £140 in fuel bills.
Of the country's 2.4 million homes, some 17 per cent have badly-insulated walls which in turn cost the bill payer an average of £145 more, it added.
Furthermore, the organisation has claimed that more than a quarter (35 per cent) of the country has homes with inconsistent wall insulation, making bills an extra £100 more costly.
And parts of Shetland are particularly 'vulnerable' to higher energy debts because of this, the paper has pointed out.
Additionally, the World Development Movement has reported that 47 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted in Scotland last year.
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