How to reduce your carbon footprint with your electricity contract in a few steps

When we think about reducing our emissions associated with our company's electricity consumption, we tend to resort to the incorporation of more efficient technologies: LED lighting, A++ electrical appliances, aerothermia, installation of presence detectors and timers...

Another option is to pursue self-sufficiency through the introduction of renewable energies: solar, biomass... Nowadays, with the reduction in the cost of photovoltaic panels, we can carry out a self-consumption installation starting at €3,000, available to anyone with a well-oriented roof.

The most aware companies also try to change the habits of their employees through internal training in workplaces that detail good environmental practices: avoiding phantom consumption, regulating the thermostat, organizational measures related to stock management or the mobility of people, etc.

Changing the electricity contract to reduce my carbon footprint?

But one of the simplest and most effective actions to reduce our carbon footprint is the contracting of certified green energy, which will eliminate all indirect emissions derived from electricity consumption at the stroke of a stroke (the so-called scope 2 in technical terminology). As we have just taken the leap to renewables, in the next post we will explain our experience to you so that you can copy it to us?

However, although it is true that our organization will be able to claim zero emissions, we must not lose sight of the fact that this is an 'artifice' and that the principle of “there is no better waste than that which is not generated” can and should also be applied to electricity (kWh). From Environmental Ideas we encourage you to reduce your consumption regardless of the origin of the electricity, since the electrons that reach our companies are not green or gray, they are all the same and come from the electrical production mix.

If you have questions about how to apply any of these measures in your bank, let us advise you. It's a safe investment!

How to hire certified green energy in 3 simple steps

If your company is determined to leave behind the fossil fuel smoke that is generated to produce your electrical energy, here's how to do it:

See (and understand) your bill.

Many companies consider the electricity bill as a fixed cost. They just pay one after the other regardless of the fact that there are many aspects on which we can influence. Do we have the power we need or are we paying for a service we don't enjoy? Is the price I pay competitive? Are there any special rates for recharging electric vehicles? ... In the bill we find a lot of valuable information and because of the topic at hand, we will now look at the section that talks about the origin of electricity and its environmental impact. Here we will see the energy label of our retailer and we can compare its emissions with the national average. In our case, the one we currently have has an emission factor of 0.35 kg of CO2 for each kWh consumed and what we want is to choose one with a value of 0 that certifies the renewable origin of energy (or of high-efficiency cogeneration) through the guarantees of origin (GDOs) issued by the CNMC.

If our marketer (the company that issues the bill) offers the possibility of contracting certified green energy, we will simply contact them using the data provided in the bill (not to confuse them with the distributor, who should be called in case of breakdowns). Since in our case we didn't have that option, we moved on to point 2.

Choose the retailer that you like the most.

Since the liberation of the electricity market, numerous retailers have proliferated. It has gone from the 11 that existed in 2008 to more than 500 that currently exist. Some of them have even specialized and only offer energy from 100% renewable sources, but there are many other criteria that we can take into account:

• Price: if our consumption is similar to domestic consumption, there will be no big differences between them. Contracting for green energy doesn't have to be more expensive and in fact in our case we estimate an annual savings of 50€ for making the change. Used to paying for many more expensive organic products than their alternatives, this is a bargain!
• Corporate social responsibility: perhaps we feel more identified with the values of some companies or their trajectories give us more confidence.
• Customer satisfaction: the OCU draws up a ranking that you can consult on this link.
• Proximity: having face-to-face offices or an agent in the area can also be a possible incentive for us.

Since it can be an arduous task to choose between so many offers, there are comparators that can give us a hand. Here we leave you The link to the one from the CNMC.

Make the leap to renewables!

Making the change in hiring is a simple process. We will only need the information that appears on the invoice and have our account number handy to carry out the direct debit. The new marketer will be responsible for carrying out all the necessary steps without the need to make any changes to our facilities. We simply filled out a form on the new retailer's website and just 4 days later the contract was formalized, with which we noticed that our carbon backpack was getting a little lighter. Specifically, we hope to avoid CO2 emissions equivalent to an elephant! (more than 4 tons) do you dare to bet on a low-carbon economy?