Green Electricity

A few ideas to get the green forum going. I am currently trying to choose a "green" electricity supplier - one that produces electricity from renewable sources - and there is a lot of information to digest; has anyone else selected a green electricity supplier yet, and if so, how did you make your choice?

Aso, I have a plug-in electric car and would be very happy to discuss the pros and cons with anyone else thinking of getting one - please e-mail me: helenmjohn@yahoo.co.uk

Helen

Dear Helen,

I asked Camden's Eco Champion, Alexis Rowell, on your behalf and he has replied:

" If you want to do the RIGHT thing, then switch to Good Energy
(www.good-energy.co.uk) who will create or buy exactly as much renewable
energy as you buy. They put into the grid renewable electricity equivalent
to the electricity consumption of all their customers. They cost a bit more
than normal electricity suppliers - between £5 and £25 more per quarter.

If you want to do the right thing but don't want to pay more, then switch to
Ecotricity (www.ecotricity.co.uk). They are not 100% green but are pretty
good. They actually have the best record in the UK for investing in
renewable generation facilities. Good Energy buy quite a lot of their green
energy on the open market. Ecotricity will match the price of your current
electricity supplier.

Rgds, Alexis
______________

Another Councillor switched, on Greenpeace's recommendation, to Juice:

http://www.npower. com/web/greenele ctricity/ index.htm

I hope that's helpful. Please come back with your conclusions.

Thanks to Pat, John and Helen for your postings. They're really useful.
Here's my contribution:

Info on Energy Use at 39 Patshull Road, October 2007

Working out the energy use: Energy use is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh)
To work out the CO2, multiply the annual kWh by the relevant multiplier:

For gas: the multiplier is 0.19
For electricity: it’s 0.43
(Source: article by Mark Lynas in G2 in 2006)

Our recent household carbon output has been:

2006 8.15 tonnes of CO2
2005 8.84
2004 7.72
2003 6.85

The average household use is 6.2 tonnes (source: carboncalculator.com) so we’re way over and (apart from 2006 representing the beginning of consciousness on this issue) seeing annual rises since 2003. We think these are probably accounted for by the increasing numbers of electrical gadgets that we and the children are acquiring.

Gas: hot water, central heating, hob
Electricity: oven, fridge/freezer, dishwasher, kettle, toaster, food processor, washing machine, lighting, mobile phone charging, electric toothbrush
TV, radio / stereos, laptop computers, printers, playstation, guitar amp

What we’re aiming for

The Government’s goal is a 20% reduction by 2010 so we’re aiming for that too starting from 2006. 8.15 tonnes of CO2 reduced by 20% would = 6.52 tonnes, still over the average.

Energy saving efforts
Apart from the obvious things to do every day:

Gas Boiler
In February 2007 we installed a gas condensing boiler for water heating.
We have installed thermostatic radiator valves on all the radiators
We’re also trying to keep the thermostat at 17 degrees during the winter.

Energy efficient lightbulbs
Since 2006 we’ve been installing energy efficient light bulbs gradually though we have not had unqualified success with them. Some emit a horrible cold bluish colour. Some are unreliable, switching themselves off. One blew up an old lamp. There seem to be several makes available. I’d be interested in other people’s views on the best ones.

Solar panels / ground source heat pump
We were awarded a grant for installing solar panels on our South-facing roof. We are now out of time but could re-apply. We’re wondering whether a ground source heat pump might be more efficient but haven’t done much more on this.

Draught-filling
It would be a good idea to infill between the wall and the wooden floors. We haven’t done this yet. What do others think and how do you go about it?

Energy reductions so far

Gas
Gas use reductions since the boiler was installed in February as compared with the previous year’s comparable quarter are as follows:

2nd quarter: 39%
3rd quarter: 28%

Electricity
Our electricity reductions in 2007 compared with 2006 have been:

1st quarter: 11%
2nd quarter: 26%
3rd quarter: 54%

This seems too good to be true, although may be accounted for by more vigilance on turning appliances off at the wall.

Usage breakdown

Apparently, the rough guide to ethical living breaks down domestic energy in the average UK house as follows:

57% Space heating
25% water heating
13% lighting and appliances
5% cooking

Looking forward to hearing more,
Regards
Frances

http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/environment/energy/renewable-energy-scheme.en Anyone know if Camden is a trustworthy source of guidance and provision re green energy? Or does all the effort and money disappear into the ground?

This is a bit paranoid of Desmond Fawcett. Why should Camden NOT be trustworthy? There's no possible vested interest.

On behalf of BARA I followed up on the JUICE (nPower) issue, as used to be recommended by Greenpeace.

The answer is the it is no longer endorsed. This is what came back from Greenpeace:


"Thank you for this email. I would give the same advice – Good Energy or Ecotricity, although I prefer to send people to the www.greenelectricity.org website, as that way Greenpeace can avoid recommending a specific company. The site always seems to recommend Good Energy or Ecotricity anyway.

Juice, whilst not so good as these two, is a little cheaper, which was one of our goals in designing it – to prove that the ‘green’ option doesn’t have to be the most expensive. However, the best thing about Juice, funding the UK’s first off shore wind farm, has now been completed, and so is no longer a reason to choose Juice. Greenpeace severed all ties with npower last summer (2006), and so we no longer have any involvement in Juice. This was due to certain actions and positions taken by the company which we felt we could not be associated with, even indirectly

Customers of Juice contributed to a huge step forward in the UK ’s renewables industry, and should feel proud of what they achieved, but at this point in time they might be doing more good with your two preferred options.




Graham Thompson
Supporter Services
Greenpeace UK"