Carbon Confusion

The Carbon Trust tells me that actually we do have to count our electricity towards our footprint because the electricity that we receive is from the National Grid, so despite paying for renewable energy what comes out of the plug socket is a mix. Paying for a green tariff is just an ethical nicety they say.

I called Good Energy to get their side of the story and they told me that they are currently disputing this issue with the Government (who fund the Carbon Trust). They say that carbon footprints should be connected to the electricity we buy, not that which is delivered.

Stripping back the confusion, it’s pretty obvious that a carbon footprint, as a practically useful number, is a measure of climate change accountability. It is a way of holding organisations to account for the emissions they are responsible for. To me, it only makes sense that companies should be held responsible for the energy they pay for; they have no control over which electrons come to them via the Grid.

The dispute comes at a bad time as more and more companies want to reduce their carbon footprint and see renewable energy tariffs as a good way of doing this. This argument provides unnecessary uncertainty in a field in which there is already way too much.

1. Ali said on 07 May 2008 16:33:11
   
   Hi Pete! Yeah it's a bit sickening to see my Good Energy electricity bill here at home pegged to the rising fuel costs - so the price of oil affects my bill in exactly the same way as it affects all the fossil fuel munchers!! Argued because my leccy primarily comes from fossil fuels but for every pound I pay, a pound's worth of wind energy is fed into the same grid - so really everyone's leccy is a mix-up - a right royal one! But still - driving up the demand for renewables has got to be the only way to go with our consumer power....
2. Pete said on 08 May 2008 09:47:26
   
   I completely agree! What worries me is that I have been studying environmental issues for several years now and I am still confused by stuff like this. It must be a nightmare for people who are new to the field.

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