In recent times the government has put a huge emphasis on increasing the amount of green energy that the UK is producing. This is demonstrated by the government’s hopes to seek a zero carbon economy in the next 30 years. As well as the government having a duty of care towards the environment, it’s important that businesses lead the way and set an example for their customers. This duty seems to have been recognised by many of the biggest businesses in the world, leading them to turn to zero carbon solutions to help reduce their negative impact on the environment.
There are many energy companies in the UK that offer tools to help businesses manage their carbon, however can they really claim that all their generated energy has a minimal environmental impact? Many energy companies still generate electricity through burning coal and gas, two resources which use fossil fuels and are carbon intensive.
For an energy company to label their supply as zero carbon, the source of their electricity should ideally not contain any non-environmentally friendly resources. There are other types of zero carbon methods, like nuclear, which can be used, but their impact on the environment can be questioned.
Being supplied by renewable energy is becoming an increasing demand within the business energy market; however there are still many businesses yet to adopt the revolution, as although a business may have the desire to reduce its carbon emissions, it could prove quite expensive to make the change to lower carbon technologies business-wide. With some suppliers, there is a need to pay an added premium when purchasing renewable or low carbon power.