Move Your Energy
case for change
The energy sector was the largest contributor towards greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, responsible for 73% of total emissions.[i]
Global greenhouse gas emissions by sector.
Moving away from use of coal, oil and gas is as important as the investment in the producers of it. The energy market offers a broad spectrum of power products which can vary in their demonstrable, renewable credentials.
Eighty percent of primary energy consumption is from fossil fuels with fossil fuel companies publishing clear plans for expansion beyond existing reserves.[ii] Shell alone will increase oil production by an additional 1,000 litres a second in 2024.
The ownership of reserves, production and investment is not only in the hands of the major independent oil companies, but also the national oil companies who preside over 60% of oil and gas resources.[iii] Despite this, both have investment strategies to increase production far in excess of 1.5℃ Paris benchmark up to 2040.[iv]
Compatibility of large oil and gas company production strategies with the Paris Agreement climate target of 1·5°C4
Without an urgent, and radical change in the energy we choose to buy, the investment in and production of fossil fuels will decimate any chance of averting catastrophic climate events.
The DETAIL
The great majority of current fossil fuel reserves will need to remain unburned if the emissions targets set in the Paris Agreement (now themselves shown to be wholly incompatible with remaining below 1.5℃ temperature rise from preindustrial) are to be met. Yet oil and gas infrastructure is already in place to extract fossil fuel which, when burned, will produce three times as many CO₂ emissions as are consistent with this target.
Worse, oil and gas companies have published plans to extract even more fossil fuel than this and continue to invest billions of dollars in more oil and gas infrastructure and extraction, and vastly less in low-carbon energy
Organisations such as Ecotricity, Good Energy, and Octopus offer power supplies which are from 100% renewable sources. Alternatively (or in addition), generate your own power through rooftop solar installation, or purchase directly from source with a Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). There is a developing group of advisors who can assist with PPA sourcing such as EY, KPMG, Pexapark, Akereos and others. Investment in additional renewable energy infrastructure is also offered from Ripple Energy.
Good Energy help small renewable generators across the UK sell their power for a fair value, growing UK renewables from 1% to about 45%. They have over 2,500 renewable generators selling their energy to customers (55k households and 5.5k businesses) across the UK. Essential to this is their hourly matching product for business customers creating transparency amidst greenwashing of the UK renewable market.
OUR OBJECTIVES
We aim to reduce scope three carbon emissions of hospitals in the first instance and wider healthcare sector thereafter. In addition, this can tackle scope one & two emissions of their suppliers. It can also signal to customers, the availability of cost-effective renewable energy solutions for individuals (the workforce also scope 3) to opt for and drive large scale change.
We believe that a mass shift in demand towards renewable energy will offer assurances to renewable energy suppliers, private or public, enabling them to invest in the capacity and infrastructure in the knowledge there is growing demand.
WHY WE ARE DOING THIS
In 2020, the NHS set out to be the first health system in the world to eliminate carbon emissions. NHS estate energy consumption contributes 10% of the NHS’s total emissions and represents 7% of the total running costs.[v]
Notwithstanding future energy efficiency schemes, demand for energy within the healthcare sector will continue to increase as energy-intensive, innovative technology and artificial intelligence continue to grow. This presents an increased level of carbon emissions that will prohibit living within safe parameters, if it goes unchecked.
There are financial efficiencies and cost certainty that can be achieved as a consequence of delivering such solutions. This will offer both, potential cash savings but also reduce the cost of organisations achieving their ‘green’ or decarbonisation targets through remedial or retrofit solutions.
HOW WE DO THIS
We are working with NHS and independent healthcare organisations to develop PPAs that can operate within the appropriate interpretation of accounting standards. This involves bringing deep expertise from the renewable energy industry to the discussion. The objective is to deliver a replicable and scalable solution that materially reduces emissions, reliance on fossil fuels and presents financial efficiencies.
We are also working with royal colleges and trade unions to promote financially beneficial switches to renewable energy solutions for both their membership and employees. This again leverages partnerships with industry experts that are able to access better rates through mass movement.
THE IMPACT
The NHS consumes a significant amount of energy, which will only continue as demand for health intervention grows and pioneering treatment emerges. Many energy efficiency schemes are capital intensive, where access to capital funding is over-subscribed.
In 2022/23 the NHS delivered carbon savings of 17.3 tCO₂e from energy efficiency schemes spending £128.5m in the process.[v] This equates to 0.01% of the NHS carbon footprint.
The ambition to develop PPAs for NHS organisations, could significantly reduce carbon emissions, without significant capital investment, whilst also releasing recurrent revenue savings. This will also provide certainty of demand for domestic renewable energy businesses, creating the environment for economic growth.
i. https://ourworldindata.org/ghg-emissions-by-sector
ii. https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-consumption
iii. https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/4315f4ed-5cb2-4264-b0ee-2054fd34c118/The_Oil_and_Gas_Industry_in_Energy_Transitions.pdf Ownership of oil and gas proven-plus-probable reserves, production and upstream investment by company type, 2018
iv. https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(22)01540-9.pdf