News

04 March 2009

Families cut energy use by 25% and carbon dioxide by 23% in British Gas’ year-long Green Streets energy challenge

• Energy bill savings of £200 per UK household possible
• ippr think tank calls for quicker roll out of smart meters to speed up energy savings nationwide
• Green Lane in Leeds revealed as winner of Green Streets after reducing energy by nearly 35 per cent

Sixty-four families across the country have slashed their energy use and carbon emissions by a quarter as part of a year long energy efficiency challenge which finishes today.

The findings, from the British Gas Green Streets programme, show that if every household in the country followed suit they could cut an average of £200 a year from their energy bills.  They also show how the UK can beat the Government target to cut carbon emissions by saving 35 million tonnes of CO₂ - the annual carbon emissions of three coal-fired power stations.

Green Lane in Cookridge, Leeds is unveiled today as the greenest street in the challenge, having cut its energy use by nearly 35 per cent (34.29 %) in the past year.  Elsewhere, individual households have slashed their energy use by as much as 70 per cent.

Green Streets was a year-long social experiment in energy saving, monitored and analysed by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr), which releases its final report on the challenge today recommending how to encourage similar energy savings for families across the UK.

British Gas gave households on eight streets in eight UK cities a budget of £30,000 per street to spend on energy efficiency measures.  Residents were also given tips from British Gas energy experts on how to save energy through simple changes of behaviour such as turning off lights when not in a room and not leaving the television on standby.  These small changes in lifestyle led to big drops in energy use.

By reducing their CO₂ emissions and energy use the most, the residents of Green Lane, Leeds have scooped a £50,000 prize to spend on making a community building of their choice more energy efficient.

From 28 January 2008 to 28 January 2009, the families achieved the following energy savings and CO₂ reductions based on a mix of using energy efficient equipment (from boilers, to insulation, to solar panels), and simple behavioural changes:^[1]

Green Streets League Table

The ippr has calculated that if these savings were replicated across the UK, families could cut electricity and gas bills by £200.[2] Domestic energy usage accounts for 28 per cent of the UK's total CO₂ emissions[3], while it accounts for nearly 60 per cent of each of our personal carbon footprints.[4]

Phil Bentley, Managing Director of British Gas, said,

"We live in an era of volatile energy prices. Reducing the amount of energy we use is the single biggest thing we can all do to reduce bills and cut emissions.

"We are very aware that our customers are facing tough financial times.  But with £1 in every £4 that people spend heating their homes being wasted due to poor insulation, savings can be made easily.  Green Streets shows that through small changes in behaviour and cheap measures such as better insulation, families can make significant cash savings off their bills.

"The householders on our Green Streets throughout the UK have been inspirational in showing us how we can all be greener and save money. It's up to all of us to follow their lead."

Paul Atkinson lives at 78 Green Lane, Leeds with his wife Karen, and children Adele (15) and James (13). Paul commented:

 "We were astonished to see how much we could save with simple measures like insulation, and by changing our behaviour without needing to revolutionise our lifestyle. Small measures really make a difference and once you start doing things like not putting the TV on stand by it soon becomes second nature."

Energy policy experts at the ippr monitored the Green Streets programme throughout the year on behalf of British Gas and found that:

• Green Streets families started the experiment in 2007 with carbon emissions of 6.14 tonnes of CO₂ per household, slightly above the UK average of 6 tonnes per household for 2006; by the end of the experiment, they had cut this figure by an average of 23 per cent.
• Applied across the UK, these carbon savings could translate to an annual reduction of 35 million tonnes of CO₂ - roughly equivalent to the output of three to four coal-fired power stations.
• Gas demand across Green Streets households fell by almost 26 per cent on average; if all UK households were to see a similar fall, total demand for gas in the UK could be cut by over 8 per cent, roughly a third of the UK's current gas imports. Gas savings were seen as the primary driver of all energy savings.
• Looking at ‘predicted energy savings'[5] from individual green technologies for households, compared to actual energy savings in Green Streets, it became clear that simple behaviour changes can increase energy savings dramatically.
• Householders cited face-to-face energy advice; the use of handheld electrasave meters and smart-meters; and the "street vs street" competition as key drivers of behaviour change.

The researchers have made the following specific recommendations for public policy:

• Speed up the roll-out of smart meters: The roll-out of smart meter technology, planned by Government from the end of 2010, should be fast-tracked to enable households to see how much energy they use and can save.
• New green finance packages: Green Streets families benefited from an average of £3,750 of free insulation and energy saving appliances and measures, an investment which could pay for itself in some cases in just three years. In order to fast-track the financing of home refurbishments, energy companies have trialled systems whereby customers can pay off these costs over the course of their annual fuel bills.
• Energising communities: Government policy should seek to replicate the Green Streets' competition mechanic by incentivising communities to change their behaviours with tangible rewards, rather than focusing on measures targeted at individual households acting alone. The ippr recommend an annual national energy saving prize-fund of circa £4m, broken down into city level prizes of as little as £5,000, with competitions monitored through smart-meters. Community energy clubs should be encouraged and supported by energy suppliers. Investment in the Community Action for Energy programme should be expanded.
• Innovation in energy savings programmes:  Provision of face to face advice was seen as a huge driver of behaviour change amongst residents.  Regulations should be changed to incentivise energy companies to deliver ‘education' and face to face advice.

Matthew Lockwood, Senior Fellow in the Climate Team, ippr and the report's author, added:"The UK has steep carbon reduction targets of 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050. We were surprised at the commitment of the Green Streets householders in showing how we might meet them. Nine in ten of the homes we will live in by 2020 have already been built, so we will need creative approaches to keep carbon reduction front of mind during a recession."

  - Ends -

Notes to editors

More detail on the Green Streets initiative can be found at www.britishgas.co.uk/greenstreets.

For more detail, contact Elliott Grady in the British Gas press office on 0845 072 8002 /Elliott.grady@centrica.com.

or Charlotte Jones, Catherine Bayles or Kate Cozens at Blue Rubicon (on behalf of British Gas) on 020 7260 2700 / charlotte.jones@bluerubicon.com  / Catherine.bayles@bluerubicon.com / kate.cozens@bluerubicon.com   

Streets participating in ‘Green Streets'

A representative cross section of residents (including British Gas and non-British Gas customers) from each of the following streets have been participating in British Gas' Green Streets challenge:

• Greenend Road, Chiswick, London W4
• Green Street, Middleton, Greater Manchester M24
• Green Lane, Great Barr, Birmingham B43
• Green Lane, Southampton, S031
• Green Lane, Leeds, LS16
• Colinton Mains Green, Edinburgh, E13
• Green Park Road, Plymouth, PL9
• Greenway Road, Cardiff, CF31

Centrica, parent company of British Gas, appointed the IPPR to provide an independent check on energy savings figures throughout the campaign, plus policy analysis of the findings.

About British Gas

British Gas, the biggest energy supplier in the country and part of the Centrica group of companies, has the lowest carbon intensity of any of the major UK energy suppliers in terms of tonnes of CO₂ emitted per megawatt hour of electricity supplied to customers.

Centrica is one of the biggest investors in renewable power generation, principally offshore wind. Its recently completed Lynn and Inner Dowsing development, off the Lincolnshire coast, is the UK's largest offshore wind development

About ippr

The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) is the UK's leading progressive think-tank, producing cutting-edge research and innovative policy ideas for a just, democratic and sustainable world. Since 1988, ippr has been at the forefront of progressive debate and policy making in the UK. Through its independent research and analysis it defines new agendas for change and provide practical solutions to challenges across the full range of public policy issues. With offices in both London and Newcastle, it ensures an outlook as broad-based as possible, while its international and migration teams and climate change programme extend its partnerships and influence beyond the UK, giving us a truly world-class reputation for high quality research.

[1] Each household's energy usage has been recorded monthly, benchmarked against 2007 bill readings or estimates, and adjusted for any major fluctuations in weather.

[2] Source: Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) - Quarterly energy prices, December 2008.

[3] HM Treasury / DEFRA Energy Innovation Review, 2005.

[4] DEFRA 2008.

[5] Using Building Research Establishment Domestic Energy Model.

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