On 16 July 2008 OFGEM published revised proposals on green electricity after extended consultation. These proposals are likely to be tweaked but not radically altered as a result of final responses from interested parties.
A key point is that tariffs can no longer claim to be zero or low carbon even if the supply is said to be from renewable sources. People should concentrate on reducing their consumption of electricity if they wish to reduce the associated CO2 emissions.
To quote the summary on page 1 of the report "Our concern here is to give a clear message to customers about the carbon content of their electricity use – increased use of electricity will lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions whatever tariff the customer is on. Put another way, there is no direct link between changes in a customers use of energy and changes in the output of generators (renewable or otherwise) that a supplier has contracted with. Therefore, the best available proxy for the carbon content of electricity consumption is the grid mix ..."
The "grid mix" is the average CO2 content of all electricity transmitted over the national grid and is around 0.537 kg CO2 per unit of electricity (kWh or kilo Watt hour).
On this basis grid electricity is the most carbon-intensive form of energy for domestic use.
Grid Electricity 0.537 kg CO2 per kWh
Domestic Coal 0.313
Mains Gas 0.206
Burning Oil 0.258
LPG 0.225
Wood Pellets 0.026
( Source : DEFRA reference below ).
In their proposals OFGEM define "green electricity" as one that incorporates an activity that results in the delivery of an environmental benefit that would not occur under a business as usual scenario. They provide a non-exhaustive list of such benefits which includes
- installation of energy efficient technologies (outside of an existing programme called CERT)
- consumer behaviour measures such as active demand management or smart metering (until or unless this is mandated)
- support for renewable heat installations
- smaller scale (community based) renewable electricity projects
- purchase of carbon offsets in line with the governments (DEFRAs) quality assurance scheme for carbon offsetting.
I assume that if you generate your own renewable electricity it can still be considered zero carbon.
Sources
OFGEM Proposals http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/Environmnt/Policy/Documents1/Green%20supply%20guidelines%20-%20proposals%20July%2008.pdf
Energywatch http://www.energywatch.org.uk/help_and_advice/green_tariffs/index.asp
DEFRA data used for grid mix is rolling average published in Annex 3 at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/envrp/pdf/ghg-cf-guidelines-annexes2008.pdf
Post Scripts : OFGEM announced confirmed its position on 4th February 2009.
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=322&refer=Sustainability/Environment/Policy
In July & September 2009 DEFRA & DECC jointly updated the CO2 per kWh figures for different energy sources and there are likely to be annual revisions. However, it is likely that grid electricity will remain the most carbon-intensive common energy source in the UK for a few years at least. http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/reporting/conversion-factors.htm
1 comment:
I think it's impossibly to be truly "carbon free", to me it seems like more of an idealistic concept.
If you manage to reduce your carbon footprint significantly through renewable energy then you're playing your part in the game I suppose. I think the most important thing is sourcing energy from renewable sources, or abundant efficient sources similar to nuclear power.
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