Powering Our Homes
Switching to a renewable energy supplier is often suggested as a way of significantly reducing your personal carbon footprint (see this BBC article and one from Climate Stewards).
A significant portion of the UK electric grid is already generated from renewable sources. This is a great start but more work is needed. Sadly “green” energy supply is a murky world vulnerable to greenwashing.
Ethical Consumer magazine have produced a short video on this issue and the Guardian delves into the detail here. I can’t give you a perfect answer but here are some thoughts:
If your budget is tight then switching to the cheapest “green” tariff is a great first step. It might not be perfect but surely showing consumer demand for these products is helpful.
Uswitch now offer a comparison tool for green energy so this could help you find good deals.
The Ethical Consumer video above lists some brands to avoid.
If you can afford it Ethical Consumer’s best buys are Good Energy, Green Energy UK and Ecotricity. The latter is offering a switching deal through Ethical Consumer.
Finally, could you generate your own renewable energy?
Claire Williams