Action Briefing December 2006 - January 2007
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Green Electricity – a simple way to make a difference

Question: What's a simple way you can make a large difference to your environmental 'footprint' - the effect your activities have on the environment?

Answer: Switch to renewable electricity - it is often as cheap as regular electricity and as easy as making a phone call and there are plenty of companies (including some household names) offering a Green tariff.

Phone up your current provider and ask if they run such a scheme, or do an Internet search to obtain the necessary information.

Whilst domestic schemes are most numerous, business customers are increasingly catered for:  an estimated 60,000 customers have already gone Green, according to Ofgem.

You might think that your contribution would be negligible, but by signing up for green electricity, not only would you help to reduce pollution, you would also send a powerful message to electricity companies to invest more in renewable energy technologies. 

Electricity production is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases so switching will reduce your ‘footprint’ significantly .

Not all schemes are equally green. For example, electricity which comes from waste-to-energy plants will never be as green as wind energy, as the plants generate some pollution and discourage recycling or reuse.

Also there is an issue that some suppliers claim they are providing green electricity, but don't actually produce any more electricity from renewable sources than they would anyway (all companies have to produce some electricity - around 10% - from renewable sources) so it is worth checking their credentials!

Renewable electricity providers differ from each other in price and in the sources used but they are all greener than burning fossil fuels.   And it really can be as easy to switch as picking up the phone!
More information can be found on /http://www.greenelectricity.org/

Andy Welch