Why green power has left us all in the dark

Once we were offered an easy way to help save the planet: ask an electricity provider to supply you with power from renewable sources and you would reduce carbon emissions and so tackle climate change. But doing the right thing has turned out to be more complicated.

There are growing concerns that ‘green tariffs’ reduce carbon emissions by far less than promised – a point accepted even by government. Supporters still argue they are worthwhile because they boost demand for renewable energy in future. But even that is now being questioned: demand is already massively outstripping supply, leading providers to turn away big customers.
In all this confusion, environmental campaign groups are withdrawing support for green tariffs, and there are two different plans to regulate the industry. In the meantime, a growing number of people are asking: is it worth switching? The answer is far from simple.

The potential of domestic renewable energy is clear: between a quarter and a third of Britain’s carbon emissions come from homes, of which just over one quarter are accounted for by electricity. On average, just over one third of this electricity is generated by burning coal, another third by gas, one fifth comes from nuclear stations, one twentieth from renewable sources, and the remainder from ‘others’, including oil.

With concern about climate change rising, an estimated 200,000 of Britain’s 23 million households have a green electricity tariff. Polls have found nearly two-thirds of people would be interested in having one. Most such tariffs offer 100 per cent ‘clean energy’ from renewable sources. Some offer to invest in renewables or to offset emissions from ‘dirty’ energy by putting money into projects to reduce carbon emissions elsewhere.

But, surveying 12 tariffs offered by nine companies in 2006, the National Consumer Council (NCC) found many were not delivering the environmental benefits they claimed.

Observer