British Gas launches 'greenest' energy choice

British Gas launches 'greenest' energy choice

British Gas today launches what it claims is the UK's "greenest" available energy tariff that will see it producing almost 20% of its electricity from renewable sources.

The company, which has been criticised for offering the least green electricity tariffs, plans to attract customers prepared to spend an extra 10% or £84 a year more for gas and electricity produced in a more environmentally friendly way. The Centrica-owned firm, which is obliged to produce 7.9% of electricity from renewable sources, says its new Zero Carbon tariff will see it produce a further 12% from non-polluting sources.

British Gas has set up an investment fund that will finance the building of further renewable schemes. The company says it will offset all CO2 emissions from the gas and electricity used by householders on the Zero Carbon tariff.

Gearoid Lane, managing director of British Gas new energy, said: "We're leading the industry by offering a tariff that will do more for the environment than any other product currently available."

Recent figures published by the National Consumer Council (NCC) revealed that only 200,000 homes - 1% of the market - are signed up to green tariffs. The NCC said many deals did not live up to their claims: even the best cut a typical household's CO2 emissions by only about 6%. It named two British Gas tariffs as those delivering the least environmental benefit.

Friends of the Earth said it was almost impossible to say whether.....continued below

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Zero Carbon is the UK's greenest offering. "Consumers should concentrate on reducing consumption by introducing energy efficiency measures rather than relying on offsetting projects," said FoE's Mary Taylor.

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