Archive for May, 2010
« Older EntriesCentral government cutting emissions by 10% in 12 months
Friday, May 21st, 2010
Press release from decc.gov.uk – 20th May 2010
Carbon emissions from central government will be cut by 10% in the next 12 months, Prime Minister David Cameron announced today. This is the most ambitious commitment on UK Government emissions ever made – and will provide strong and decisive leadership on green issues helping to deliver better value for money and make a contribution to reducing the record deficit.
Government department headquarters will also publish online in real time their energy use so that the public can hold ministers and civil servants to account for their carbon footprint.
A government steering group will be established to ensure the delivery of this emissions target. The steering group will be chaired by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne, and comprise representatives from key departments and the private sector.
The Prime Minister will write to all colleagues to reaffirm this shared commitment and invite them to bring forward their plans to help meet this common target.
Speaking to staff at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Prime Minister said:
“I don’t want to hear warm words about the environment. I want to see real action. I want this to be the greenest government ever.
“In fact, we’ve made a good start. Someone pointed out when you mix blue with yellow – you get green.
“So today, taking our lead from 10:10, I commit us to a ten percent reduction in carbon emissions across central government in the next twelve months. You’ll be driving this forward. But I have also made sure all Cabinet ministers are involved, developing plans to show how they will meet their share.
“And the public will be involved too – because we’re going to publish the energy use of government headquarters in real-time, so people can hold us to account for our performance.
“And to those who say this is insignificant, remember this: the UK’s public sector has a bigger carbon footprint than the entire waste industry; if we do this, we’ll cut the Government’s energy bills by hundreds of millions of pounds.”
“I don’t want to hear warm words about the environment. I want to see real action. I want this to be the greenest government ever.
”(Prime Minister David Cameron addressing DECC staff today )
The new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne has now started work, joined by Charles Hendry and Greg Barker as Ministers of State.
Chris Huhne outlined his priorities in his new role:
“Climate change is the greatest threat to our common future. We have a very short period of time to tackle the problem before it becomes irreversible and out of control.
“A lot of progress has been made, but we must now go further, faster and turn targets into real change.
“This is a coalition to provide strong and stable government for this country. The benefits of the low carbon economy are agreed between both parties, this is a priority agenda common to both manifestos.
“Together we have the opportunity to make this the greenest government in our history. And to put energy security, for too long a second order issue, at the heart of the UK’s national security strategy.
“I intend to make decisions put off for too long to fundamentally change how we supply and use energy in Britain.
“To make it far easier for people to make their homes more energy efficient to reduce wasted energy and cut their bills.
“To give the power industry the confidence it needs to invest in low carbon energy projects.
“To create jobs and growth right across the low carbon economy.
“And to use every influence we have internationally to get a global deal to tackle climate change.”
Tags: Central government cutting emissions by 10% in 12 months, Environment
Posted in Energy saving, Latest News
Feed-in Tariff Case Study
Friday, May 21st, 2010
This is a great example of how Ringmer Community College are pioneering the use of renewables, including the use of solar, ground source heat pumps and win turbines. The payback is considerable and a it is part of a programme engaging those that attend the College, teachers and pupils alike, with the importance of environmental responsibility. Well done Ringmer.
Tags: GroundSource Heat Pump, Reneable Energy, School Energy Saving Project, Solar PV
Posted in Case Study, Energy saving, Feed in Tariff, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Latest News, Renewable Energy, Solar PV, Wind Turbines
The Feed-in Tariff (FIT)
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Want to generate your own energy and make an income on the side? The Feed in Tariff is a scheme which came into effect from April 1st 2010 and requires energy suppliers to make a regular payments to those who households and businesses who qualify and generate their own electricity from sustainable sources.
The Feed In Tariff can be gained for renewable technologies up to 50 mega watts and include:
- Solar electricity (PV)
- Wind turbine
- Hydroelectricity
- Anaerobic digestion
- Micro combined heat and power (mCHP) – limited to a pilot at this stage
The benefits for the feed in tariff include:
A Generation tariff
The energy supplier pays you a set rate per kWh of electricity generated. Once you join the rate is set on the same tariff for 20 years (25 years in the case of solar electricity).
Export tariff
The energy supplier pays a further 3p per kWh of electricity exported back to the electricity grid – when it is surplus to demand and isn’t used on site. The export rate is the same for all technologies.
Savings on electricity bills
The final financial benefit is that on top of the payments being received, the energy being produced and used, is not energy purchased from the supplier. This is a saving on the electricity bill.
Together the benefits, both financially and in terms of reducing environmental impact can be considerable. The investment required in the technologies, where well specified, can be paid back in a number of years, with a substantial return on investment possible. There are also means, such as grants, to support the initial capital expenditure.
To qualify for the FIT, if you do not currently have renewable technologies installed, the renewable technology chosen must be an Micro-generation Certification Scheme (MCS) certificated product and installer. There are options FIT open to those who have renewable technologies in place also.
For more information about the current tariffs, the sort of renewable technology that would be suitable for your site and the degree of benefit you could expect, give us EAdvantage a call and we’ll happily go through it with you. We work with Micro-generation Certification Scheme certified products and installers to ensure you would qualify for the feed in tariff.
Tags: Feed in Tariff, FITs, grants, Renewable Energy
Posted in Feed in Tariff, Renewable Energy, Solar PV
How to Reduce Your Energy Bill
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
For most businesses, energy usage is one of the largest environmental impacts and is an area where there are often significant savings to be made. Last year Carbon Trust noted that with few no cost measures, organisations could save 10% of business energy costs and with a few low cost options, this could be 20%. At E Advantage, this is the sort of activity we like – one with a great return on investment.
So how can you go about making these savings? We’ve compiled a few no cost and low cost options to get you underway.
Do an audit of your energy use
Energy can be best managed when its usage levels are well understood. As a starting point, compile a summary of how much energy you have been using over the last 12 months, what this has been costing and what the major uses of it were. Plot the energy usage over time in a graph, look for any obvious peaks and troughs and consider what they may result from.
Smart metering and sub-metering
A better understanding of the largest sources of energy use can be gained through smart metering and sub-metering. This is especially important to large or diverse sites, where there may be several large pieces of machinery in use.
Be frugal
Many of the largest savings are ones that that can be simply put in place, if the knowledge and willingness is there. These can often be identified by walking around the site and can include simple measures such as:
- Turning lights and equipment off (not putting it on standby) when not in the room
- Opening / closing windows instead of using the air conditioning and heating
- Ensuring the heating and air conditioning are not on together (…it happens!)
- Making use of daylight where possible – often this is enough for most of the day
- Ensuring the thermostatic valves set to the correct temperature
- Consider campaigns to spread this information with colleagues
Look at your lighting
The International Energy Agency say that 10% of electricity can often be saved by switching to more efficient lighting systems. Switch from tungsten lighting to compact fluorescents or LED’s for example, which use around a quarter as much energy and last many times longer.
Automated solutions
Because people are busy and it’s easy to overlook simple savings, why not consider technologies that can make it a bit easier. These can include installing lighting sensors and automated power down for appliances (e.g. for computers at the end of the day).
Lifecycle thinking
Energy usage relates to behaviour and the operational environment. It’s often helpful to consider all stages of the product or service delivery alongside the principles as the energy hierarchy. Where can energy usage be eliminated (possibly by removing processes), where can it be reduced (for example through efficient fleet management) and where can it be reused (for example using heat exchange ventilation technologies)or produced renewably.
Wider options
Consider sourcing your energy from a green supplier who heavily invests in renewables, such as Good Energy, Infinis or Ecotricity. Even better why not look at installing micro-generation equipment and produce your own renewable energy? Instead of paying for energy you may even be able to sell something back to the grid. Small, efficient wind turbines, ground source heat pumps and solar PV are all worth considering – what works best depends on your location, site and energy requirements.
E Advantage are experts in all aspects of energy reduction, including the installation of building management systems, energy management systems and renewable technologies. An award winning lighting consultant is always on hand to answer your questions and specify the best lighting technologies to save energy without compromising the quality of the lighting.
For more information on any of the points in this article call us anytime and we’ll be happy to help you cut your energy usage and bills.
Tags: cost savings, energy bill, reduce energy usage
Posted in Energy saving
The Environmental Competitive Advantage
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Management scholars such as Porter, Hamel and Prahalad have for years debated the sources of competitive advantage that have allowed leaders like Google to dominate the marketplace. It has been widely accepted that cost, focus and differentiation were all routes to achieving competitive advantage, yet in isolation these are frequently not enough for this to be retained. Developments in the market over the last few years suggest such sources must be supplemented by demonstrating Corporate Social Responsibility to reach a sustainable competitive advantage.
Remember how McDonalds or Nike were boycotted for example, when consumers found some of their practices to ethically deficient and misaligned with their own values. Today both these organisations take this subject very seriously and it is no coincidence they now lead the field in many sustainability practices. E Advantage are meeting with organisations everyday that are receiving supply chain pressure from their valued customers, funders and regulators, to reduce their environmental impact. Not taking such stakeholder requests seriously could have severe consequences to their business.
There are considerable benefits to taking a more proactive approach to environmental management, as a part of an organisations core business model and marketing strategy. Organisations such as Innocent Smoothies and M&S with the ‘Plan A’ programme are all realising these benefits.
- Grasp new markets and revenue opportunities
There are segments of the market, both business and consumer, that are highly environmentally considerate in their actions and their purchasing behaviours. There are possibilities to win over such an audience with the right proposition.
- Reduce costs
Saving money through reducing landfill taxes, water consumption, energy consumption, leaner processes, avoiding penalties from regulators and much more.
- Build brand equity and manage reputational risks
An organisations brand is everything that it does, every contact it has with its customers and stakeholders. Taking a responsibility, evidencing improvement and reporting in a clear, transparent way will engage people with a brand and can be used reinforce a perception of quality. Careful environmental management reduces the chances of a negative story about the company reaching the headlines – PR that can quickly erode brand value and result in lost custom.
- Keep ahead of competitors
Demonstrating environmental responsibility is becoming a pre-requisite in a variety of industries, from construction workers to lawyers. Those that are proactively building an environmental consideration into their business model are better placed to gain advantage in the marketplace – they are not ‘off guard’ trying to rush putting such improvements into place when legislation dictates, as their competitors may be.
- Engage employees: reduce staff churn costs
Social and environmental issues often strike a very personal chord with employees and can be a great way to engage them. In a recent independent survey of 800 full-time U.S. workers, aged 18 and older, 94% of respondents said it was either ‘critical’ or ‘important’ that they work for an ethical company. Further to this, 82% of respondents said they would prefer to be paid less and work for a company with ethical business practices than receive higher pay at a company with questionable ethics. (Workspan 2007).
- Generate positive publicity comparable to significant media spend
You only need to pick up today’s newspaper to see the range of environmentally related stories. The Stratton’s Hotel in Norfolk is a powerful example of this – they have won numerous awards for their environmental responsibility. Publicity costs money, yet as a small organisation with an environmental leadership, they have gained media coverage to a value many times their investments and generated significant customer loyalty as a result.
E Advantage support environmental and social responsibility as a worthy cause, but consider them as part of a triple bottom line where organisations must be financially sustainable. To this extent, our organisation blends an innovative mix of environmental and commercial consultancy in our services, first to bring about environmental improvement, secondly to utilise this as part of an effective marketing strategy. This journey begins with a green marketing audit to understand the organisation in it’s competitive environment – identifying the real opportunities before putting the steps in place to help make competitive advantage a reality.
Want to know more about how you can gain an environmental competitive advantage? Call us today on 01280 812 909 or email info@e-advantage.co.uk
Tags: competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility, cost saving, csr, Environment, Green Marketing
Posted in Environmental Advantage