Saving energy at home can be beneficial to both bank accounts and CO2 emissions. We all know the familiar story: undue and unnecessary energy consumption in the home is a large but also unneeded contributing to global warming and the problem of climate change. And the reason energy use in the home is so often attacked? Most of the energy we use can be cut down; turning lights off when we leave the room, switching appliances off instead of leaving them on standby, not heating the house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Most people understandably though come to save energy when they’re looking to save money; when that gas and electricity bill comes through that’s just that little bit gratuitous and it seems like the right the time to cut down on energy use and slash part of that untimely and unwanted energy bill.

Cutting energy to save on cost also helps reduce CO2 emissions of course, so wanting a better deal on gas and electricity prices is no selfish act.

Green Energy Tariffs – Cutting Energy, Cutting Cost

One way of cutting cost, and then reducing CO2 emissions dramatically, is to look at switching to a green energy tariff. There are a growing number of green energy tariffs around, including some from the UK’s most well known gas and electricity companies.

Those companies tend to use a mixture of green electricity and ‘brown’ electricity, though, so if cutting CO2 emissions is your bag, its better to go for a green energy tariff from companies like Good Energy, Ecotricity or Green Energy, who offer 100% renewable energy tariffs.

A 100% renewable energy tariff is made up of energy garnered from sources such as wind power, solar energy, and wave and tidal power. With Ecotricity in particular, it is made up strongly from wind power.

As a further benefit, green energy tariffs can often work out cheaper than what’s currently being paid for a gas and electricity tariff with other companies. As green energy grows, the cost is expected to drop further, meaning that green energy tariffs should get more and more popular.

Comparing Green Energy Tariffs and Comparing Prices

Of course anyone reading this will want to check out that claim for themselves. There are plenty of places that compare energy prices and green energy tariffs; one place to start is Ecoswitch. Hop on over to the Ecoswitch Green Energy pages, where details on cost and availability for green energy tariffs are presented according to postcode.

And one final thing: fear not! Ecoswitch deals only with those three companies offering 100% renewable energy, so that cutting the cost on electricity and gas bills will always mean cutting CO2 emissions, too. Peace of mind, for sure.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

The Ecotricity chief Dale Vince fancies himself for a bit of an ecowarrior, and has long been heavily involved in environmental lobbying and general political pressuring. Now he spends most of his time fronting the company that first brought the possibility of green electricity and green energy tariffs to the UK, but still takes a very active and influential role in encouraging the exposure that green energy gets.

Writing on the possibility for exposure of Ecotricity and companies like them at Copenhagen on his Zero Carbonista blog, Vince has commented as follows:

“I went to the UN conference in Kyoto, the one that put climate change on the map. A friend of mine got hold of some passes and we just turned up with no idea what to expect. Our plan was to talk anyone that would listen about the role that wind energy has to play in fighting climate change. The message went down well. Back then hardly anyone had heard of the concept of Climate Change and even fewer people held it to be true. It was more the territory of scientists and ‘hippies’. Actually, even back then, almost 2,000 of the world’s top scientists (the IPCC) had told the world’s political leaders ‘There is only one responsible choice – to act now.’

And Kyoto was a success. Not because the targets agreed were particularly ambitious but because targets were set at all. It was and still is an important moment in human history. The world had set its first carbon targets. Much has changed since then. Most people today have heard of climate change and more importantly accept that we urgently need to do something about it. It’s as rarely out of the news these days as it used to be rarely in the news a decade ago. T

The Kyoto accord played a vital part in this transformation, many people are hoping that a successor to Kyoto will emerge from Copenhagen. I hope so too. But Kyoto targets have not been met. So what use are another set of targets? We actually need deeds now not words. Targets are only a small part of the story, the easy part – hitting them will take real commitment“.

Can the Copenhagen summit bring further interest in green energy, then? Certainly, it can – and the exposure around the event, including talk on sustainable energy, has already done some of the work – but the question itself is something of a trick one; companies like Ecotricity are already doing the work that the green energy sector needs.

As Vince writes, words and deeds are not the same thing; hopefully politicians will match their words with deeds this time around, but in the increasingly like event it seems, that they don’t, companies like Ecotricity will keep ploughing away, offering green energy tariffs to whoever they can.

Perhaps the Copenhagen climate change summit can bring attention to such companies. It would do well to do so. If it doesn’t, though, one thing is certain: green electricity will keep gaining ground thanks to the efforts of companies like Ecotricity.

Posted under Articles, Climate

Green energy tariffs are fast moving from a position as an alternative to more conventional energy tariffs to a part of the mainstream energy industry in their own right. The 100% renewable green energy tariffs of Good Energy, Green Energy and Ecotricity are particularly popular choices because beginners and experts alike know that there’s no chance of a ‘greenwash’; with all the energy coming from sources like wind power and solar power, anyone interested in reducing their CO2 emissions, contributing to sustainable energy and fighting climate change can feel safe in the knowledge that they’re really making a difference with these green energy tariffs.

How to Switch to a Green Energy Tariff

In the words of Ecotricity, “The biggest step you can take is probably also the easiest”.

There are plenty of ways to switch to a green energy tariff, including getting in touch with the companies themselves; the Green Three of Good Energy, Green Energy and Ecotricity listed above are a good place to start. Each will help in their way to explain how you can switch to their own respective green energy tariffs.

Other companies will do the work of searching for you; there are plenty of websites in the across the hyperspace void that will search for, compare, and give information on various green energy companies and green energy tariffs, including a tariffs with a variety of fuel mixes; some may include ‘brown’ energy, though.

Green Energy Tariffs Compared – Switching with Ecoswitch

Ecoswitch are precisely one of those nice companies. Supporting the Green Three particularly, Ecoswitch can provide information on green energy tariffs anywhere in the UK, focusing particularly on the availability of Green Energy, Ecotricity and Good Energy.

Simply pop in a postcode and some details about the amount of energy the household consumes, and Ecoswitch can give costs and availability for green energy tariffs in that postcode’s area. Easy. And it only takes five minutes. For more info, check out the Green Energy Tariff Comparison.

Sustainable Tariff from the Green Three – Why Ecoswitch Deals with Them

Plenty of companies offer comparisons of all kinds of services, and there are a number that offer energy or tariff comparison. Ecoswitch, though, wants to make sure it only deals with genuine, ethical green energy tariffs ands so supports the Good energy, Green energy and Ecotricity green energy tariffs, as the major companies in the UK that offer 100% renewable energy fuel mixes.

With that in mind its Ecoswitch’s hope that people can feel safe and trust the knowledge that they’re getting a new energy tariff that genuinely reduces CO2 emissions, is sustainable, and helps against the problem of global warming.

Any questions on that? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

In another protest against the continuing reliance on coal – and proposals for more coal fired power stations from the government – activists have climbed on top of Didcot power station in Oxfordshire, and are planning to stay there for some time.

Striking out against carbon emissions and the continued use of such electricity, the group are inadvertently championing the cause for green energy, in terms of both its development as a national resource and in encouraging use of green energy through specific companies.

The Guardian reported on the protest as follows:

“Activists have climbed a power station chimney in a protest over climate change. The group, who met at the Camp for Climate Action earlier this year, forced their way into Didcot power station, Oxfordshire, at about 5.30am today. Nine members climbed the steps of one of the chimneys. They say they will stay at the power station, run by RWE npower, for “as long as possible”. A further 13 are on the station’s coal conveyer.

Protester Amy Johnson, a 20-year-old student from Oxford, said: “RWE npower have become at the forefront of trying to push for more coal, and want to build 30 more coal-fired power stations. We’re here to tell them that can’t possibly happen. The government is making a lot of noise about climate change, but they are not getting any results. They’ve made no steps to reduce carbon emissions. We’re planning on staying as long as possible. We’ve got food and water for at least a week, so we’re going to be here for the long haul.”

Drawing attention to the government’s difference between words and deeds on the issue of climate change, the reduction of CO2 emissions and the introduction of green energy, the protest should hopefully bring good publicity to the green energy cause. Indeed with green energy gradually receiving more exposure and gaining in popularity, it seems that the time is coming when its use in the UK might at last enter the mainstream.

With companies like Good Energy, Green Energy and Ecotricity offering it as an alternative to normal energy tariffs, too, green energy could soon be a staple in British homes.

Posted under Articles, Environmental News

Where the leading green energy companies have found their niche and gained steadily in popularity is in their ability to make a truthful a claim that the core of the business is ethical; they’re about saving the planet as much as about saving money for their customers, and about making money for themselves.

Certainly the Green Three – Ecotricity, Good Energy and Green Energy are focused on sustainability: using only green energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectricity and wave power, this new breed of energy companies are trying to make sure that the energy they produce and they way that the produce it can last for many, many years to come.

Brown Electricity, the Depletion of Coal and Why Green Energy is the Future

Green Energy companies distinguish themselves from ordinary energy companies by distancing themselves from what they have termed ‘brown’ energy; energy that damages the planet and generally speaking releasing high levels of CO2. This of course includes conventional electricity, generated by coal-fired power stations.

The distancing from that type of energy from green energy companies, though, is twofold; once again the issue comes back to sustainability. Coal reserves are not only finite, but depleting at rapid rates according to some critics. With that in mind, governments, think tanks and activists, including those at companies like Good Energy, Green Energy and Ecotricity, have taken an increasing interest in providing energy in a sustainable way.

where governments are slow on the uptake the Green Three have already made leaps and bounds: providing 100% renewable green energy tariffs to those who want them, Green Energy, Ecotricity and Good Energy are already doing what the government is perhaps aiming to do in providing green electricity that is totally sustainable.

Green Energy and the Climate Change Problem

Sustainability might be one watchword, but CO2 reduction is just as integral to the green energy aim. Ecotricity explains in its own terms the need for solid green energy tariffs on their website. they write as follows:

“The Met Office has recently confirmed that the UK experienced the warmest year on record in 2006, with an average temperature of 9.7°C – 1.1 degrees Celsius above average. In order to prevent the most severe effects of climate change we need to curb emissions of CO2 and other harmful gasses to levels well below that of today. Electricity generation from conventional sources is responsible for 30% of the UK’s carbon emissions making it the single largest contributor“.

As much as remaining sustainable, then, green energy tariffs are about reducing carbon emissions and keeping them low once they have been reduced.

Supporting Green Energy

Showing support for green energy, sustainability and reducing CO2 emissions is very simple. Ecoswitch runs a comparison of green energy tariffs from the UK’s Green Three, and supports them wholeheartedly in their providing sustainability and carbon reduction to the UK. If you want to support green energy by switching to a green energy tariff, you can do it via the Ecoswitch website.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

Times are tough, so they say. The global downturn, slowdown, or recession as it is variously called, has led to a certain scrutiny on the part of a number of people in the UK; our wages just aren’t stretching as far so we’re looking more closely about where we put our finances each month.

Some cut down on food items, others on luxury – no more wine bottles with dinner, less trips to the cinema – as we all find our own suitable way to deal with the financial pinch.

To add to the problem, gas and electricity prices rose quite steeply in the new financial year, making running the household even harder than it was; just keeping things going, given the financial circumstances, has become more difficult and more expensive. Most people though, haven’t thought about saving money in an area where savings might matter most: in their gas and electricity bills.

Cut Costs with a Green Energy Tariff

Most people associate green energy tariffs – energy delivered through renewable energy sources like wind and solar energy – as an ethical choice; for those who are worried and for those who can afford to care about environmental issues, goes the argument, green energy tariffs are an easy and effective way to cut carbon emissions and help the environmental cause.

In fact, though, green energy tariffs are now often cheaper per month than their counterparts at British Gas, E.On and NPower, amongst others.

Ecotricity, Good Energy and Green Energy – the Green Three are fast developing a name for themselves as being good value as well as ethical. For a little more on their tariffs and what you can save in your own area, take a look at Ecoswitch’s Green Energy price comparison pages.

Green Energy Isn’t Just for the Greens

Such companies, then, are trying to move away from the idea that green energy tariffs are just for the eco warriors amongst us. Now it is becoming clearer that a green energy tariff is beneficial for practical and financial as well as ethical or environmental reasons, and the environmental benefits of a green energy tariff is almost something of a bonus.

Indeed, whilst the founding philosophy of companies like Good Energy, Ecotricity and Green Energy is one that supports green energy tariffs as a way of fighting climate change and reducing carbon emissions, the companies – and its ccostumers and potential customers – are well aware that the service needs to be appealing too.

That’s exactly why green energy tariffs are gaining in popularity: it would be hard to find anyone who’s against environmental protection, even if they’re not actively for it, and helping out the environmental cause whilst saving a bit of money too, is a worthwhile cause that most people will take on happily and proudly.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

Green Energy is gaining in credibility and popularity and many people are swapping their old gas and electricity companies – British Gas, NPower, EDF, E.On – for some of the new breed. Ecotricity, Green Energy and Good Energy are leading the way in green energy tariffs and are equally wrestling customers from the old guard as more start to realise that green energy tariffs are not only cutting on carbon emissions and combating climate change, but can also be cheaper.

Many have already made the switch, but for those that are a little more tentative, what follows is an introduction on how and why to switch to green energy tariffs.

Green Energy Tariffs – How to Switch

Switching is easy. There are plenty of places that will take care of the process for you, and Ecoswitch is one. The Ecoswitch Green Energy section providers a quick and simple way to switch to the UK’s most environmentally friendly green energy tariffs, including the Green Three of Good Energy, Ecotricity and Green Energy.

All you have to do is pop in your postcode and answer some general details about your gas and electricity bills and Ecoswitch will do the hard work of locating green energy tariffs and costs for you, based on the details you gave. If you’re at the point where you want to switch, start by taking a look at the Ecoswitch Green Energy section.

Why Switch to a Green Energy Tariff?

This question is both easier and harder to answer. The most obvious and perhaps the most important reason is that carbon emissions are predicted to continue in their steady rise through unprecedented levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. And we’ve already started seeing the effects; famines, floods, rising sea levels and crop failures have led to food shortages, lost homes and price increases in agriculture and food production.

With coal beginning to run out, too, there are arguments that the cost of gas and electricity might continue to rise. Green energy tariffs are often criticised for their high cost, but that is now a thing of the past; green energy tariffs have been coming down in price for a few years now and in most cases one can find a green energy tariff that’s much cheaper than the ‘brown’ energy equivalents.

Of course switching from one tried and tested thing to another is never easy, but most people switch as a result of a combination of ethical and financial worries; the issue of climate change concerns, and escalating gas and electricity costs lead them to look at new energy tariffs.

Changing the way you get your energy and the power to your home can feel like a big change, but green energy tariffs really are making a difference. Companies like the Green Three, and those who support them like Ecoswitch, are doing everything we can to make that change as easy as possible, because such companies understand the importance of green energy tariffs in the UK of years to come.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

Generally speaking green energy is defined as energy that isn’t pollutant and is carbon neutral. In that definition are wind power, solar power, and wave and tidal power. There are some others that are still considered part of the green energy family but that are arguably pollutants or emit carbon during the energy generation process: these are nuclear power and biofuel.

What Am I Getting When I Get Green Energy?

Different energy companies work with different mixes of these methods. Some will rely wholly on renewable energy – solar, wind, wave and tidal – and some may mix these with biofuels. Most companies that would call themselves green energy companies won’t use nuclear, for various political and historical reasons; its simplest to say that nuclear power has a lot of well known negative connotations. And we all know them.

When going green, most people tend to stick to a tariff they know is 100% renewable, so as to dodge unwillingly contributing to the carbon emissions they switched to a green energy tariff to avoid. It can be a little intimidating working out exactly what constitutes a genuinely green energy tariff, though. In the UK the most transparently green companies are Good Energy, Ecotricity and Green Energy. Here is an explanation from Ecotricity on why they try to use only the genuinely green energy types:

“Ecotricity is harnessed from natural sources, like the wind, the sun and water, that don’t pollute and don’t contribute to climate change. We call these Deep Green, because they’re the ultimate in clean electricity generation. They don’t involve any burning and offer a pollution-free, endless source of electricity.

Creating new Deep Green sources is crucial in the fight against climate change. And that’s where we come in. We’re building 500MW of new Deep Green energy by 2015. This is a significant boost to green electricity capacity in the UK and will have a major positive impact on the environment; reducing Carbon Dioxide, other gas emissions and pollution. Every unit of green electricity that we make directly replaces electricity normally generated from conventional polluting sources.

There are other sources of green electricity. We call these Pale Green, because in most cases they involve some form of burning and there is some associated environmental impact. Examples of Pale Green sources include sewage, landfill gas and biomass. The first two provide a non-intermittent and comparatively cheap source of power and in most cases enable significant greenhouse gas savings compared to conventional sources. Pale Green sources helped us to kick start the UK’s green electricity market place and to get us where we are today, but they are no longer a feature of our generation. Our focus is on building new Deep Green capacity: the most important factor in reducing the threat of climate change”.

Switching to Green Energy Tariffs

The unsure should look to Ecotrcity, Good Energy or Green Energy, as it can be said that what Ecotricity represents, Good Energy and Green Energy generally do too. They might be in competition, but their desire to provide 100% renewable and deep green gas and electricity is a most unified goal.

Switching to a new company for something as central as gas and electricity can be quite daunting, so Ecoswitch has provide information on how to switch, including tariffs and costs, to the Green Three energy companies. Take a look at our Green Energy section for more information.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

Plenty of people provide energy in the UK, but Good Energy, Green Energy and Ecotricity are now the established providers of green energy tariffs in Britain; as the only three major suppliers to offer trusted and 100% renewable green energy tariffs, Ecoswitch supports them in their environmental delivery and encourages wholeheartedly a switch to their services. If you’re interested in such a  thing, you can visit the Ecoswitch Green Energy section which providers details on their tariffs and offers information and a path to switching to one of their green energy tariffs.

For those not yet convinced or converted, what follows is a little bit about the Good Energy, Ecotricity and Green Energy trio that’s known as the Green Three.

Why the Green Three?

Attributed the name because of their genuine green credentials, Green Energy, Ecotricity and Good Energy are the only three companies that offer a genuine 100% renewable service, containing no coal.  Seen generally at the safest bets in the green energy world, those who feel daunted about switching tend to go to one of these; there’s little to no opportunity for a  ‘greenwash’ or an environmental scamming.

Their name is in part derived as oppositional; the Big Six are the UK’s leading energy companies – E.On, EDF Energy, Southern Electric, Scottish Power, British Gas and NPower – and represent to some the ‘old way of doing things’. The Green Three’s name is a poke at that old establishment, and represents the crop of energy companies who provide the new way of offering energy in the UK: the green energy tariff.

Renewable Energy from the Big Three – Some Background

Ecotricity are interested as much in people taking up their green energy tariffs as they are investing in the technology that can improve their service. The website says that Ecotricity “take the money our customers spend on electricity and invest it in clean forms of power like wind energy. What’s more, we’re the only green electricity company actually building these new renewable energy sources. In 2007 alone we invested £25 million in wind energy”.

Not that Green Energy aren’t doing their bit. They “only buy green… don’t have any brown electricity or nuclear in our business… buy… from the widest range of renewable and green technologies that will one day reduce the pricing power of oil” and “are making use of today’s technology to make fossil fuels more green“.

They are further “independent, UK based and… truly answerable to our customers: so much so that we give all our customers the chance to become  shareholders for free”.

And what about Good Energy? Well, there website states that,  “Our mission is to fight climate change by empowering individuals to make a difference, easily and instantly, by giving them practical ways to make positive changes in their attitude towards energy, and the way they use it”.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity

Most that are interested in green energy for ethical and environmental reasons have heard of the infamous ‘greenwash’; companies that have jumped on the environmental bandwagon so as to make some quick or extra money out of compassionate and thoughtful consumers.

Some of the biggest names in business have tried to greenwash the public over the years with varying degrees of success; in the early 2000s BP were one of the first companies to buck the trend and remain one of the most famous examples. Just this month, too, the Guardian newspaper ran a feature on Virgin Money and its ‘green ISA’, claiming that most of what it claimed to do in the name of environmental concerns were not in fact very environmentally minded at all.

The same can of course happen on smaller levels; plenty of companies are dipping their hands in the environmental water and looking to get green fingers, and energy companies are arguably some of the worst. With more consumers looking to switch to green energy tariffs than ever before, a few words of warning can be tremendously useful indeed.

The Green Three and the Big Six – Who They Are, What They Do

In the UK there are a fair few energy providers offering some form of green energy tariff, but the most prominent ones can be divided into two groups. The Green Three specialise in green energy; they are Ecotricity, Green Energy and Good Energy. With those three it’s possible to sign up to tariffs that are genuinely 100% renewable, and all should provide a run down of their fuel mix for particularly doubtful or scrupulous consumer.

The Big Six are more well known energy companies. Those companies are as follows: E.On, EDF Energy, NPower, British Gas, Scottish Power and Southern Electric. Long established as energy companies – and longer than the Big Three, with perhaps larger reputations – the Big Six have started looking into sustainability and green energyy. They offer various green energy tariffs, and are looking into their own environmental performance, plus investment in environmental projects or technological research.

Some, though, would excuse these companies of ‘greenwash’; far from providing 100% renewable tariffs, it has even been claimed that their investments are minimal. Whilst seeming to be doing their bit, these older companies represent the ‘brown fuel’ order and are only slowly – and perhaps not as honestly as they might claim – taking up the idea of green energy.

Stay Safe with Green Energy from the Green Three

That isn’t to say that the Big Six have their merits; large, established companies, they provide good services to large bodies of consumers, and have plenty of experience in the industry.

In terms of getting a genine green energy tariff, though, it would be safer to stick with one the Green Three; the companies might be smaller now, but in terms of their environmental credentials, it would be very hard for the interested consumer to go wrong.For more information on the Green three and their green energy tariffs – plus how to switch to them – visit Ecoswitch’s green energy page.

Posted under Articles, Gas & Electricity