New University Electricity Supplier

I've just heard that the University has changed it electricity supplier from British Gas to Scottish & Southern. The relevant bit? Scottish and Southern derive a higher proportion of their electricity from renewable sources than British Gas do - 8.4% for S&S instead of 4.2% from British Gas. Think about it this way: if a lecture lasts 100 minutes, the lights are powered from renewable sources for 8.4 minutes.

Now, before jumping for joy at this increase - the reason for changing suppliers was not to bump up the renewable proportion, but it was done simply as part of a regular re-tendering exercise after the old 2-year contract with British Gas had come up for renewal. The University could just as easily have switched to a supplier that had a smaller proportion of renewables, but thankfully this wasn't the case.

The University (and you in your homes) can go 100% renewable by switching to a green electricity supplier - either Ecotricity or Good Energy, which get 100% of their energy from green, renewable sources. And switching suppliers isn't troublesome at all - you can do it online! You won't notice any difference at all to your home electricity supply, which will still come through the national grid - you're just paying a different company for your electricity, increasing demand for renewables at the same time and the knowlege that your electricity isn't releasing tonnes and tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change!

All energy companies have to provide a certain proportion of their electricity from renewable sources as part of the Government's push to cut carbon emissions. In technical terms, this is known as the Renewables Obligation - and if you're really interested in this, the Department for Trade and Industry has a ongoing public consultation on the future of the RO, what is required of electricity suppliers and encouraging large-scale electricity production from renewable sources.