Renewable electricity

Electricity generation is a major source of carbon emissions in the UK but the cost of generating electricity from renewable sources is rapidly dropping and the proportion of UK energy generated from renewables is increasing every year. Moving away from coal and natural gas and speeding up the transition to renewable energy is an urgent part of the fight against climate change.

Frequently asked questions

What is renewable electricity?

Renewable energy, sometimes called clean energy, comes from natural sources or processes constantly replenished, such as sunlight or wind.

How does buying renewable energy help address climate change?

Buying renewable energy helps support energy suppliers and generators working to reduce the carbon emissions involved in generating electricity. Moving to renewable electricity generation is a key part of what we need to do to address climate change.

Is renewable energy supplied directly to my house?

No. All electricity, renewable and non-renewable is fed into the national grid. So all houses and businesses are powered by a mix of renewable and non-renewable energy. This means that even if you buy renewable energy it is still a good idea to reduce electricity usage as much as possible particularly at peak usage times when the proportion of energy generated from fossil fuels is typically higher.

Is “green energy” the same as “renewable energy”?

Sometimes renewable energy is referred to as green energy but green energy can also mean buying energy generated using fossil fuels and then separately buying carbon offsets.
Carbon offsets is the idea of spending money to reduce carbon emissions somewhere else. Carbon offsets may help but it is very difficult to tell how much as the carbon offset schemes vary widely. Most climate experts agree that offsetting should only be a secondary measure and the main focus should be on directly reducing carbon emissions particularly in areas like electricity generation.

Does it matter from which energy company I buy renewable energy?

In short, yes. It is safer to go with a company that only sells renewable energy to have the best impact. This way, you can be sure your money supports a company trying to move us towards clean energy generation.

In the UK, energy suppliers are legally allowed to say their energy is renewable as long as they have brought enough certificates to prove that an equal amount of renewable energy was generated and added to the grid. A disadvantage of this system is that even if you buy renewable energy, some companies may buy electricity generated using fossil fuels and then buy these “REGO” certificates from another company that does not need them. This system means that some money does go towards renewable energy generation, but this could be quite a small amount, and your energy supplier could still be buying and supporting electricity generation based on fossil fuels.

Another complication is that if a large electricity supplier supplies both renewable and non-renewable energy, it is legal for them to simply reduce the amount of renewable energy allocated to the non-renewable customers when they assign it to you. So it’s best to buy energy from a company that only suppliers renewable energy.

Is “green energy” the same as “renewable energy”?

Sometimes renewable energy is referred to as green energy, but the energy supplier buys electricity generated using fossil fuels and then separately buys carbon offsets.

Carbon offsets are the idea of spending money to reduce carbon emissions somewhere else. Carbon offsets may help, but it is very difficult to tell how much. Most climate experts agree that offsetting should only be a secondary measure, and the main focus should be on directly reducing carbon emissions, particularly in areas like electricity generation.

Is renewable energy supplied directly to my house?

No. All household electricity, renewable and non-renewable, is supplied into the national grid. So all houses and businesses are powered by a mix of renewable and non-renewable energy. Even if you buy renewable energy, it is still a good idea to reduce electricity usage as much as possible, particularly at peak usage times when the proportion of energy generated from fossil fuels is typically higher.

What is green gas?

Green gas can refer to biogas or standard natural gas with separately purchased carbon offsets or some mix of the two.
Biogas is produced when organic matter such as leftover food and agricultural waste is processed in an anaerobic digester. After it’s generated, it’s mixed in with the normal fossil fuel gas. The best estimates suggest biogas could provide a maximum of 10% of the current UK gas needs.

Should I buy green gas?

If you cannot move away from gas now, you can buy sustainable biogas and carbon offsets, but it’s important to reduce your gas usage where possible. Using natural/fossil gas in the UK is not compatible with a net-zero future, so we need to move away from gas as an energy source.

Should I buy offsets or “carbon neutral” gas from my energy supplier?

Some energy suppliers offer to offset the co2 for some or all of your natural gas usage. If you cannot move away from gas at this time, there is unlikely to be much harm in using these offsets. It’s important to understand that the gas you burn still causes co2 emissions. Offset schemes vary greatly in quality, and most of the things the carbon offset schemes invest in we will need to do anyway, in addition to stopping burning gas.

Recommendations: Renewable energy supplier

Octopus Energy

Octopus Energy logo

Great all-rounder, 100% renewable electricity with some innovative tariffs. Particularly worth considering if you can have an Electric Vehicle or can otherwise push electricity usage overnight.

Octopus energy does have an advantage in the current market in that it is well funded, having just received a $600 million investment. This means it's exceptionally unlikely to go bankrupt, whilst some smaller green firms have already gone bankrupt.

Octopus 12M fixed

A popular and simple tariff which is fixed price for 12 months.

Agile Octopus
This is a new service still in “public beta”, it offers dynamic pricing throughout the day.
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Electricity - Energy Saving Tips

Boiling water

When boiling water, try to boil only the amount of water that you will use. If your kettle has a lot of limescale build-up, it may lose some efficiency, so it’s a good idea to describe it.

If you frequently make tea for one, then when it comes time to replace your kettle, you could consider a kettle that boils just one cups worth of water at a time. As well as saving energy, these kettles or hot water dispensers are also often quicker to boil.

Cooking tips

When using an oven, hob or grill, you can save energy by turning off the heat a few minutes before the food has finished cooking. The food will continue cooking in hot water, steam, or hot oven. Doing this reduces the energy wasted and decreases the chance you accidentally leave an appliance switched on. After you switch the oven off, you can use it to keep food or plates warm whilst you finish preparing other food.

It’s a good idea to use lids on the saucepans to help retain the heat and cook the food faster, wasting less energy.

If your hobs don’t turn themselves off, then double-check to make sure you’ve turned them off as soon as you finish cooking.

LED lighting

LED bulbs have improved a lot over the last few years and are now available for almost every type of light fitment and with support for dimming.

Whilst early bulbs produced light of quite a harsh colour, modern LEDs can create a much warmer colour light. If you want a warm light look for a softer look, select bulbs with a colour temperature of 3000k or lower.

Advantages of LED bulbs:

  • Save money over the long run
  • Save time changing bulbs (Long life)
  • Safe and mercury-free (Unlike CFL)
  • More energy efficient than halogen or CFL bulbs

Washing and drying clothes efficiently

Washing clothes at 30 degrees instead of 40 typically uses about 40% less electricity. For most washes, 30 degrees works just as well as 40 if you use a detergent designed to work at 30 degrees.
Suggestions, feedback, research, product ideas, etc, are all very welcome!