date: Wed Aug 22 18:31:00 2001 from: Mike Hulme subject: green energy to: s.torok Simon, A green energy scheme if we develop the idea of an EDP column on reducing C emissions ......... User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/9.0.2509 Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2001 09:58:59 +0100 Subject: No, I'm not spamming you all... From: Steve Connor To: Aidan Roe , Amanda Onwuemene , Donna Anderson , Andy Bond , Anne McNamara , Akiko Mizutani , Angela Bradley , Rachel Barnes , Ceri Chamberlain , Chris Shearlock , Catherine Cook , Chris Dessent , Lyn Bowley , Claire Hodgkinson , Claire Procter , Colette McCormack , Karen Cunningham , David Porter , David Kirkwood , Erik Bichard , Emma Degg , Eleanor Bullen , Esther Maughan , Maf Smith , Grant Windridge , Harry Bowley , Heidi Curran , Helen Siddons , Joe Ashwell , Jackie Seddon , Jayne Crosse , Jo Brewis , Jeanette Longfield , Joe Ravetz , joanne summers , John Davey , Jonathan Beevers , Jo Phillips , Karen Preece , Kate Markey , Katie Bray , Keith Jobling , Ken Campbell , Kenny Boyd , Len Grant , Mike Hulme , Marie Mohan , Simon J Shackley , Darryn McEvoy , Matt , Megan Gawith , Sarah Lindley , Emma J Griffiths , Michael Gregory , Maria Llinares , Maurice Connor , Phillip Monaghan , Nick Clarke , Olenka Brain , Jason , Peter Fox , Peter Mearns , Petros Diveris , John Barwise , Richenda Connell , Rob Green , Simon Marvin , Sarah Mander , Sarah Connor , Simon Kent , Stacey , Steven , Sue Vanden , Sue Taylor , Tom Warburton , Tony Hare , Ruth Turner , William Horsfall , Walter Menzies , Rob Jarman ... Okay, so I've sent this to loads of people and you'll probably groan but IT'S IMPORTANT!!! It's about this global warming malarky: Utility and NGO make cheap renewable energy available nationwide Energy utility Innogy Plc and Greenpeace have launched a scheme providing renewable energy to all UK users at no additional cost. UK customers will be able to buy renewable energy at no extra cost Through its retail arm, npower, Innogy Plc. will enable all UK electricity users to choose to receive their bills under a new renewable brand called Juice, which will feed one unit of renewable energy to the national grid for every unit of electricity used by the customer. Npower says that theirsı is the first consumer energy product to be sanctioned by Greenpeace, which is also selling Juice through its website, and wonıt cost more than npowerıs existing tariff. ³It is just as competitive as any other npower pricing scheme and some new customers may actually even save money, depending on where they live,² company spokesperson, Geraldine Dunne, told edie, adding that to qualify for the scheme, customers must first switch to npower if it is not already their provider. The £60 million North Hoyle Wind Farm, which Innogy is developing four miles off the coast of North Wales, will eventually supply all Juice customers when it begins operating in 2003, but until then other renewables facilities will be used. These include onshore wind farms and a hydropower plant in Snowdonia. The North Hoyle farm will provide about 60-90 megawatts of energy with its 30 turbines, saving about 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, npower said. The company hopes that Juice will add about 50,000 customers - North Hoyleıs total production capacity - to the tiny UK contingent of green electricity customers, numbering 18,000 currently since tariffs were introduced in 1999 to help meet the governmentıs targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This number compares to about 400,000 in the Netherlands, which has one quarter of the UKıs population. ³Wind power alone could contribute up to four times the power produced in this country,² Dunne said. ³We are very proud to be the first to get out there and engage people in the clean energy debate and to make it easy for them to get involved. Although many understand the importance of clean power, until now many donıt know how to get involved and we intend to change this.² Dunne told edie that a publicity campaign was being devised for Juice and that if the scheme achieved more subscribers than it could supply units of electricity, then it would lobby for a second wind farm. Schemes such as Juice, and the Governmentıs new working group to help small, environmentally friendly electricity generators overcome development obstacles (see related story), will benefit Labourıs aim to generate 10% of UK electricity supplies from renewable sources by 2010. The current share of the market is only 2.8%. However, the Governmentıs New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) system for trading wholesale electricity (see related story) has been criticised by wind producers for imposing penalties on suppliers unable to accurately predict what they will produce. ³North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm is good news for Wales and good news for Britain,² commented Matthew Thomas, npowerıs Juice project leader. ³And Juice, which will flow from the wind farm within two to three years, now paves the way for a significant shift towards clean energy. Our pioneering environmentally conscious customers will be driving demand for more renewable electricity and investing in the future environment at no extra cost to themselves.² ³Juice offers hope by giving individuals a simple and effective way of doing their bit to fight climate change through their electricity bill,² said Matthew Spencer, head of Greenpeaceıs climate campaign. ³Now you can get climate friendly electricity, and send a clear signal to the government that you want to see the UK renewable energy industry grow.² To register for Juice, customers anywhere in the UK can telephone the Juice hotline on 0800 316 2610 or apply through either npower or Greenpeaceıs websites. -- Steve Connor Binks Building 30 32 Thomas Street Northern Quarter Manchester M4 1ER England T: +44 (0) 797 117 1228 F: +44 (0) 703 115 1345 E: steveconnor@easynet.co.uk W: [1]http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~steveconnor "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.' - Victor Hugo