It’s not all doom and gloom for the future of Britain, as news of the country’s carbon emissions from the power generation industry halving from the figure recorded only five years ago.

The data comes from the National Grid and it has indicated fantastic clean energy records over the past year, with the “greenest summer” to date because of low-carbon sources making up for more than 52% of the energy mix. These figures can be accredited to the increased interest and implementation of solar panels and wind turbines as energy sources, which also led to the country conducting its first full 24-hour day without coal-power since the Industrial Revolution.

In March 2017, it was recorded that renewable energy reached an output level of 19.2GW, the highest output level to date. By May 26th 2017, solar power made up a quarter of Britain’s energy supply- a new record for this type of energy source. Such accomplishments mark the start of “a new era” in grid operations according to Duncan Burt, the head of the National Grid’s system operations: “We now have significant volumes of renewable energy on the system which poses an exciting challenge for us in ensuring the supply and demand are matched second by second. As this trend continues, our ability to forecast these patterns is becoming more and more important.”

Following the success of offshore wind power, the Government has put forward a clean growth strategy to support the sector, with an initial 10GW capacity of offshore wind power supplying the UK by the 2020s. Other areas that the Government seek to tackle include transport, energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage technology (CCS). Criticisms, however, have been raised about the Governments disregard for onshore wind and solar power support and investment, despite the fact it is the cheapest form of power generation. The solutions to such concerns are yet to be seen.

With the business sector being the largest consumers of power in the country (buying 56% of the UK’s electricity), the utilisation of renewable energy sources is our first step into improving the country’s carbon footprint. But it isn’t just the environment that benefits from renewable energy sources. Firstly, the uptake of renewables allows businesses to meet sustainability criteria; secondly, renewable energy sources can have a positive effect on business profitability.

Incentives from the government encourage large-scale consumers to renewable energy sources; whilst big organisations note vast improvements in their energy efficiency which subsequently reduces their energy bills over selected periods. For example, Marks & Spencer’s sustainability programme saw the company improve its energy efficiency by around 34% per sq. foot in its stores which resulted in the business saving around £22m in their energy bill across a seven-year period (2007 to 2014).

Figures such as these are huge encouragements for other businesses to invest in renewables. The switch to these types of energy sources are actually inexpensive, whilst other benefits include better engagement with both consumers and employees through the positive steps in CSR efforts (corporate social responsibility). The Carbon Trust highlighted that investing a mere 1 to 2% of your energy spend on employee energy-saving campaigns could see the company save around 10% on energy bills.

With Britain heading into a greener future, and businesses reaping the benefits of renewable energy sources, is your organisation following suit? Get in touch with us today to discuss our energy management services. Our experienced and dedicated team of experts will help your business make the move to renewable energy sources by identifying the most cost-effective avenue for your business.

Article by: Ian Morrison