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You and Yours: Community energy, discount supermarkets

Community energy, discount supermarkets

19/02/2014

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Community energy, discount supermarkets

How future wind-farm projects could bring a cash-boost to the UK's towns and villages.

Peter White examines the government's new Community Energy Strategy. Will it succeed in getting consumers more closely involved in how their energy is generated?

Living next door to a wind farm might not sound too appealing. But would you feel differently if it helped to reduce your energy bills, and you partly owned it? The government recently unveiled its Community Energy Strategy which aims to encourage consumers to be more closely involved in how their electricity is generated and supplied. Ministers are keen for developers to share ownership of wind-farms with local communities, which could create a cash-boost for towns and villages. 

Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl are enjoying a boom just now, with rising sales. Their market share is still small, but it is growing as more people choose to shop in the cheaper stores. But why are people changing their shopping habits? Is it just a desire to save money? One retail expert thinks that some consumers are turning away from the UK's big four supermarkets in what he calls "anti-corporatism". 

There seems to be no end to the apps you can download on your smartphone. Now there are specialist health apps, which allow you to constantly monitor things like your blood pressure, how well you are sleeping and how much exercise you are doing. But can they really help you to live a healthy life, or could they turn you into a hypochondriac? 

And for those who like to plan ahead - is there any sense at all in starting to save now for Christmas? We ask whether traditional Christmas savings clubs are good value for money.

Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Peter White.

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