PowerSwitch

Has anyone had any experience with green electricity suppliers like Ecotricity? With the the first of the "big six" announcing they are about to raise prices, I think it's way past time I finally got off my backside and switched to a more sustainable energy provider:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... mpany.html

Has anyone got any recommendations about who I should check out as a green energy (gas & electric) supplier?

Thanks in advance and apologies if I posted this in the wrong forum.

I dont think that there is any such thing as "green" natural gas, it all comes out of the same wells and it all produces carbon dioxide when burnt.

Green(ish) electricity, certainly.

adam2 wrote:I dont think that there is any such thing as "green" natural gas, it all comes out of the same wells and it all produces carbon dioxide when burnt.

Green(ish) electricity, certainly.

Yes, but have you any experience with using them or don't you think it's worth supporting?

I know it's still burning carbon, but if I want to heat my house and eat hot food this winter then it's either that or set the house on fire. Which would also burn carbon and be a less sustainable solution (for me at least!)

Until I can use non carbon based methods to achieve my goals here, I thought that I might at least withdraw my custom from energy giants who make loads of profit and use less sustainable methods, to a greener supplier.

From Ecotricity's website, they say they are putting money into biogas "mills" and their gas supply won't include gas sourced from fracking, which is important for me.

Murf: have a look here. If you scroll to the bottom of the article, you'll see that two ethical 'best buys' are amongst the cheapest for electricity.

I imagine that this article is now out-of-date. Also, you have to register to get the full article but nonetheless it will give you some idea.

From the gas report:

The big development in the gas marketplace for domestic customers concerned about the environmental impact of their energy supply is that ‘green gas’ has arrived. Green gas is biomethane which is a naturally occurring gas produced by the anaerobic digestion (in the absence of oxygen) of organic matter such as dead animal and plant material, manure, sewage, organic waste, etc.

Green gas is still very much in the early stages of coming online: at the moment the only company to supply it to domestic customers is Ecotricity. As with the other small ‘green’ suppliers, you have to first sign up for one of its electricity tariffs before signing up to its gas.

Thanks for that emordnilap. Who needs fracking when there's biogas!

While on the subject of energy tariffs, Which? are running a campaign for simpler bills. Details can be found here

Ecotricity only have one tariff. Not sure how that can be simplified.

biffvernon wrote:Ecotricity only have one tariff. Not sure how that can be simplified.

Precisely! That's what Which? would like all the other energy providers to do.

If they don't - then switch!:D

Switch anyway, otherwise you conive with those that would destroy the world

Before the current round of price-rises the Co-Op Energy were cheaper than all the Big 6. Now the price rise season has happened, they are...still cheaper! And by a larger margin and all!

I'm not sure how, given that we have a "quota" system for Green Electricity production, any one supplier can say it is greener than any other, except perhaps by being the guy who actually builds the green generators (e.g. Dale Vince).

But, the Co-Op say they have a larger green fraction than the typical, and more to the point their company structure means there are no fat-cat shareholders. The shareholders, by definition, are the punters who buy the energy!

It's worth pointing out that Ecotricity still sells electricity that is nearly 20% coal fired:

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-e ... r-fuel-mix

While their fuel mix has got better (and it's always been better than the Big 6 by a long stretch), it's still well short of the mark in my view.

Good Energy sells 100% renewable electricity:

http://www.goodenergy.co.uk/switch/wher ... r-fuel-mix

They're expensive, especially for low users (when I was using 2kWh per day in my last flat it worked out at about 22p/kWh).

Regarding gas sales, while virtually no (in fact is there any?) 'green' gas is injected into the grid in the UK, you need to get your gas from somewhere and I'd much rather give my money to Good Energy than one of the Big 6. Interesting to see Ecotricity's plans for biogas but have they actually

Not sure where that Ethical Consumer link gets its data from. It's incorrect when it says that Co-Op Energy is 100% renewable:

http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/good- ... gy-source/

ETA: I'll also say that when I'm calculating my carbon footprint I use the grid average emission factor, even when buying electricity from Good Energy. As RC points out, the mechanism we have for delivering renewable energy in the UK means that you can't really claim the reduced emission factor. But going with suppliers that source most or all of their electricity from renewables (and ideally who refuse to buy electricity from the worst fossil fuel) is still a good thing to do as it demonstrates demand.