British Gas launches "greenest" energy choice

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) British Gas today launched what it billed Britain's ''greenest'' energy tariffs, aimed at customers prepared to pay more for gas and electricity produced in a more environmentally-friendly way.

The company's ''zero carbon'' and ''future energy'' tariffs are the latest initiative to meet demand for ''green'' energy tariffs, of which there are now around 20.

Those who sign up to the British Gas ''zero carbon'' tariff will pay an extra 84 pounds per year, while the ''future energy'' tariff will carry a premium of 20 pounds per year.

''Zero carbon'' will help people reduce their carbon footprint through carbon offset schemes, fund investment in renewable energy and contribute to a British Gas ''green fund''.

The fund will invest in developing new renewable technologies, such as wave power, and a programme to help British schools reduce their CO2 emissions.

Customers who sign up for the ''future energy'' product will contribute to a fund that will provide solar panels and other renewable energy technologies to schools and invest in the development of renewable technologies and sources.

Gearoid Lane, Managing Director for new energy at British Gas, said the products aimed to respond to ''consumer demand for truly green energy solutions'', which are ''moving from niche to mainstream products''.

Suppliers are already obliged by the government to generate a proportion of the energy they supply from renewables, currently set at 7.9 per cent. This amount is far more than the renewable energy required to satisfy the demand from green tariffs, so there is no more renewable energy being generated overall.

To address this, suppliers such as Scottish Power, npower and Powergen have followed in the footsteps of small, independent green energy suppliers, like Good Energy and Ecotricity, by launching environmentally friendly products.

Almost 350,000 consumers have now signed up to one of these, according to recent research by the energy regulator Ofgem.

Alex Lambie, head of greenhelpline.com, a Web site that compares eco-friendly energy products, said British Gas had ''at last ... created a green tariff that's worth shouting about''.

He said the zero carbon tariff was the ''greenest'' available in the UK, adding: ''It will no doubt cause unrest with the other utility companies and will force others to follow suit.'' However, green energy is often more expensive than electricity from non-renewable resources.

A recent poll by 2,200 people by rival price comparison service uSwitch.com found that 39 per cent of consumers would not be prepared to pay extra for ''green'' energy, while 41 per cent would only pay up to 50 pounds per year more.

The new British Gas tariffs are among the first initiatives launched as part of the ''We're in this Together'' campaign, an alliance of eight of Britain's largest brands unveiled in April.

Under the scheme, supermarket giant Tesco is halving the price of energy-saving light bulbs and home improvement chain B&Q is doing the same with two best-selling insulation products.

BSkyB is introducing technology that saves emissions by automatically switching inactive Sky boxes onto standby, while mobile operator O2 is paying a credit to customers who do not want a new handset when they renew their contract.

Regulator Ofgem is currently consulting on a scheme to give ratings to green energy deals.

REUTERS ARB RAI1916