Every electron they send down the wire from a supplier, has a unique customer's address attached to it and will only be delivered to that address.
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Green electricity
- Thread starter studentspark
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Every electron they send down the wire from a supplier, has a unique customer's address attached to it and will only be delivered to that address.
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Hmmm! Are you aware of any company from which you can buy electricity that produces any electricity from anything?
Some electricity suppliers offer (usually for a higher price) what they call green/greener electricity, but I don't really understand what that means - (other than that those customers who are 'taken in' by the claim will usually pay more for their electricity - albeit the same electricity they will use if they change to a different, 'non-green' supplier/tariff!)- the individual electrons in the National Grid don't know 'how they were produced'!
Kind Regards, John
I'm trying to get my head around why that would make any difference in terms of carbon emissions or balance today - but so far have not succeeded!
If we burn millions-of-years-old carbon, we're presumably leaving the same amount of 'recently harvested' carbon in the trees - and vice versa?
Kind Regards, John
If the money is going to a supplier which is only buying renewable, then it's going to build the market for renewable, so more renewable is built, and less gas used. If the company is also using the profit on that money to build renewable energy then yes it's going to directly increase the amount of renewable available, and therefore decrease the amount of gas burnt.
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there is no such supplier.
Yes, ecotricity produce electricity
It's hard to get your head round because, as you say, electrons are electrons are electrons. You could equally well say that no company sells electricity generated from gas.
Even if there is such a supplier, that's a (delayed) long-term matter, but I'm sure most people who go for these companies/tariffs (and maybe pay a premium from them) believe (are mislead into believing?) that they are thereby somehow having an impact on how much gas is biing used in real time (i.e. now).
... but it's surely the case that very few of the (many) electricity suppliers (including many that offer 'green'/'eco' tariffs) have anything to do with generation, or generation facilities, isn't it?
Kind Regards, John
OK, but that doesn't mean that the electricity you get when you pay them for it is any different (or 'greener') than the electricity you would be using if you paid someone else.
If you were with ecotricity today, then you would get and use exactly the same electricity (generated in the same way) tomorrow, whether you stayed with ecotricity or changed to a different 'supplier'.
As Stephen has said, if you buy your electricity from ecotricity, their profit from you hopefully go towards their increasing their renewable generation capabilities in the future - but that's a pretty long-term effect, far from an immediate one.
Kind Regards, John
And 1/100 of a second later they take it back.
Which? recently did an investigation into green energy suppliers.
Key ridiculous point - "Under current government rules, suppliers can sell 100 per cent renewable electricity by purchasing Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates for as little as £1.55 per customer"
Key ridiculous point - "Under current government rules, suppliers can sell 100 per cent renewable electricity by purchasing Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates for as little as £1.55 per customer"
Like most things which are green - smoke and mirrors.
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Problem with electric for heating is that you are essentially "burning" it twice, once to make the electric, then again to make the heat.
If a client is asking about being much greener, I think the emphasis has to be on insulation first - make the house fully insulated (no idea how much, but I guess much higher than that regs) and then less energy needed for heating. Consider ground source heat pumps, which can deliver relatively warm water all year round, so less energy needed to heat.
If a client is asking about being much greener, I think the emphasis has to be on insulation first - make the house fully insulated (no idea how much, but I guess much higher than that regs) and then less energy needed for heating. Consider ground source heat pumps, which can deliver relatively warm water all year round, so less energy needed to heat.
E
EddieM
"They" whoever they are don't send any electrons down the wire. </pedant>
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