“This is a fiendishly difficult area. First of all, as to whether one form of green energy is greener than another, they all have an impact on the environment (I was reading only today how putting up wind turbines was leading to soil erosion in some moorland areas because of the heavy trucks transporting them).
“A lot of people consider the only truly green green tariffs to be Ecotricity, Good Energy and Green Energy. Green tariffs, as we say in the article, are only truly green if they are investing heavily in the renewable energy infrastructure. Those that buy a quantity of electricity from green sources to match your consumption are creating demand for renewable electricity, but not necessarily investing so that we can all benefit from green power in the years to come. The rule of thumb is, I'm afraid, that the more genuinely green the electricity, the more expensive it is.
“I think the gas deal is all about offsetting. Burning gas is pretty ungreen and, by definition, you can't buy gas that isn't, well, gas. Offsetting is better than nothing, but it doesn't discourage consumption and companies arguably just trade credits rather than make any effort to be greener.”
Hmm. It sounds as if, out of my options, Ecotricity is the one to go for if I'm serious about greenness. It'll cost me more, but thanks to my dopiness about being on the most competitive deal up till now, it would only cost £19 a year more than I'm currently paying.
Moreover, if we decide that there's no such thing as a green gas tariff, then I might just as well switch to the cheapest—which will save me £78 on what I'm currently paying. So I still emerge from the whole exercise paying £59 a year less than before. Hurrah!
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