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Co-op Energy are green as it gets

Eco-friendly firm Co-operative Energy have achieved 100% renewable output in the first year.

The company announced that all of its energy supplied to customers has been sourced from renewable generators including wind, hydroelectric and biomass powered supplies in the first 12 months of their operation.

After opening in May 2011, the Co-op have far exceeded their aims to supply electricity containing less than half the national average of carbon by April 2012, by meeting energy demands fully with renewable energy.

Nigel Mason of Co-operative Energy said: “We have remained very committed to playing our part in tackling climate change since our launch a year ago.

“At launch, we made a public pledge to ensure that, by April 2012, the carbon content of our electricity would be less than half the national average. It’s a great achievement to source our electricity entirely from renewable sources, especially in our first year as an energy provider.

“As we grow, we will have to stay open-minded about sourcing our electricity from non-renewable generators, whilst choosing renewable wherever possible. We believe that a multi-pronged approach to energy supply is needed if the UK is to meet its climate change targets in the medium term.”

The company sources electricity from several generators of low renewable energy. The locales include two community-owned wind farms in Cumbria and Oxfordshire, which enables Co-op Energy to maintain their original ethos by supporting smaller cooperatives.

Harlock Hill in Cumbria was the first co-owned wind power initiative and supplies enough energy to power the typical needs of 1,100 homes, and Westmill wind farm in the South East is able to power 2,500 average homes from 5 wind turbines.

Renewable energy supply has been on a steep rise since 2010, and Co-op’s achievement looks forward to increasing the amount of electricity coming from purely renewable sources.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .