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Today's consumer demands social responsibility from business, and environmental issues are increasingly at the top of their agenda. With a firm commitment to developing innovative and environmentally friendly projects, Total is moving forward in the field of renewable energy. Our Hydro generated Green Power and low carbon CHP sourced Cleaner Power offer inexpensive solutions to emissions reductions.
There is little doubt that the world’s climate is
changing. More and more scientific evidence
suggests that global temperatures are rising –
perhaps even faster than scientists initially thought.
Climate change and carbon footprints are now
common terms, and the
issues and implications
surrounding them are of
concern to us all.
Green Power is produced in small scale hydropower stations using river water flows.Scientists and
government alike are
now insisting on the need for business and
industry to reduce their 'Carbon Footprint'. At
the Kyoto Summit in 2002, the UK government
agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20%
from 1990 levels by the year 2010. Indeed, there
are now financial incentives available to UK
companies which utilise cleaner, green power.
How can you take real, genuine steps toward
reducing your business' environmental impact
without drastically
changing the way
you work? You can
help to achieve the 20%
reduction target in
several ways, but the simplest method by far is
choosing the right power product.
Renewable energies which are environmentally
friendly and limitless are termed Green Power.
The achieved volume of energy from renewable energy, while increasing each year, is consistently below the target so far.The obvious answer is that we all should. Real
progress to reduce emissions has to start soon,
or more drastic measures will be taken to make
companies and individuals pay for the
environmental cost of their activities. Increased
consumption of green energy products now may
reduce the need for strict and expensive
governmental controls in the future. According to
the government’s Energy White Paper (5.19), in
2006, the power generation mix in the UK
contained only 4% of power generated from
renewable fuels.
While the volume of energy from renewable
resources is increasing every year, we have yet
to meet our Renewable Obligation targets set by
government since 2002 (see the graph). By
signing up to a Green Power and/or Cleaner
Power product, you will ensure that the right
amount of renewable energy is purchased to
cover what you use. Buying more green energy
means less demand from polluting energy
sources and thus helps to reduce the levels of
carbon being emitted. So while the green energy
is fed into the grid and mixed with electricity
from all sources, buying a renewable power
product helps to ensure that more is produced.
Purchasing Total Gas & Power's Green Power or
Cleaner Power may be no more expensive than
your current power package. Using Green Power
or Cleaner Power exempts you from paying the
Climate Change Levy (CCL) because it is a tax on fossil fuel based
energy for non-domestic use. On the other hand, it is quite possible that in the
future businesses and individuals will be made to
pay more for not using green energy through
penalties for exceeding carbon allowances.
Green Power and Cleaner Power are compatible
with our suite of energy procurement packages,
so your contract will remain unchanged.
Similarly, these products offer all the flexible
options and easy payments with Direct Debits
you have come to expect from Total Gas &
Power. Are you interested in sustainable power
certification? We may be able to help with
that too.
Switching to Green Power or Cleaner Power is a
straight forward solution which actively
demonstrates your commitment to reducing
emissions, and sends out a positive message
about your business.
Wind turbines are a popular green source.
It is generated from sources occurring naturally
in the environment, such as wind, water (waves
and hydropower) or the sun. Other methods of
generating power that do not rely on fossil fuels
such as oil, coal, and gas are carbon neutral, or
at least emit much lower levels of carbon, and
are also considered green.
Total Gas & Power's Green Power is produced in
France and Switzerland by small scale
hydropower stations using river water flows. All
of these hydropower stations qualify with Ofgem
and under HM Revenue & Customs regulations
for exemptions from the Climate Change Levy
(CCL), which is the tax on supply from fossil fuel
based power generation. The electricity is
transported to the UK via an inter-connector with
France. The power generated from green
sources is therefore fed into the UK network just
like electricity from any other source, and can be
used anywhere in the UK with your existing
infrastructure and equipment.
While there are many ways to harness energy
from the natural environment, some are better
than others. Hydroelectric power has been used
for decades, but the smaller scale hydro projects
- such as those used by Total Gas & Power -
have far less environmental impact than the
traditional large dams.
Wind is also a popular green source because it is
relatively straightforward to build and run a
turbine, but there is significant opposition to the
proliferation of wind farms being proposed in the
UK because of their visual impact on the
landscape.
Biomass fuels such as plants absorb carbon dioxide, making the process carbon neutral.
Biomass fuels do produce carbon emissions
when organic matter, such as plants or woodchip,
is burned, but since the plants absorb carbon
during the growth cycle, the process is
considered carbon neutral, and is therefore green.
Offsetting is a method of compensating for emissions produced with an equivalent carbon saving, lessening the impact of a consumer’s actions. Consumers can offset a particular business activity including all of the gas and electricity they consume. Carbon offsetting involves calculating emissions and then purchasing equivalent credits from emission reduction projects that have prevented or removed the emission of an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide somewhere else.
Landfills contain significant portions of organic
materials that produce a variety of gases when
they are compacted and covered in landfills as
they decompose. Carbon dioxide and methane
are the primary byproducts. Water soluble carbon
dioxide is likely to leach out of the landfill, but
methane, which is lighter than air, is likely to move
up and out. Landfill gas energy companies
capture the methane and use turbines to convert
it to power.
Total's combined cycle CHP station in Gonfreville, France.Total's 250MW integrated gasification combined cycle CHP station in Gonfreville France is a perfect example of research and innovation at its finest.Our Cleaner Power is produced using Combined
Heat and Power (CHP) technologies. CHP is the
highly efficient, simultaneous generation of heat
and power in a single source, and the very
largest industrial CHP plants rival traditional
power plants in delivering huge quantities of
power, except that they do so far more efficiently.
You may ask why power which is generated
abroad counts toward UK green energy targets.
The answer is that every unit of Green Power
generated there and transported across the
inter-connector can be used to reduce the level
of polluting energy produced in the UK, and so
still provides the benefit in Britain.
Please contact your Account Manager or call us on 0113 232 1022..
Our terms and conditions apply.
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