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By appropriately selecting an electricity supplier and tariff option, the Council is currently supplied with 100% zero-emission electricity.
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The UK central government has set a target for our electricity system to be decarbonised by 2035. This commitment means that the UK will be powered up completely by clean (zero emissions) electricity, with a mix involving nuclear power and renewables (wind, solar, hydro, etc.). In the meantime, the electricity supply in the UK still has emissions associated with the generation through fossil fuels, primarily natural gas.
In this context, picking up a zero carbon electricity tariff is critical as it helps to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations. By choosing a zero-carbon electricity tariff, the Council has ensured the electricity it uses across it's main sites is not releasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
The electricity used at majority of the SBC sites are now under the Zero Carbon for Businesses tariff with our electricity supplier.
In early 2022, SBC moved to a Zero Carbon for Business (ZCB) tariff with EDF Energy. According to EDF, this tariff guarantees that SBC is backed by zero carbon electricity, generated by nuclear power stations.
Choosing ZCB allows SBC to report zero carbon emissions for the electricity supply under the global best practice using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol).
Based on the average carbon emission factor of the UK power grid, the ZCB tariff chosen by SBC, and the new baseline of annual electricity demand, it is estimated that over 1,500 tonnes of CO2e are avoided per year.