Monty Burns is the face of the energy industry. There’s no getting around it. Over the years, and with the cumulative disasters of events like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl as well as the Exxon spill in Alaska or the more recent Mexican Gulf spill, people are wary of Big Energy and its commitment to the global ecosystem. Without making light of a tragedy, I can’t be the only one who, during the Fukushima breach, pictured a bunch of radiation technicians running by a glowing, green man with the familiar exchange of
‘In there guys’,
‘Thanks Homer’,
albeit played out in Japanese.
And while people are right to feel cautious, there has been a sea change in the industry, driven from grass roots level. Thanks to many years of persistence from environmental campaigners, the public has become much more insistent on having their energy generated from renewable or greener sources. This has the knock-on effect of making green energy not only desirable, but also more affordable through economies of scale.
We all know that we could do with a bit more sun in Ireland, though as solar-cell and battery technology becomes more efficient, even we may one day go solar. In the meantime, we are lucky to benefit from the abundant tidal and wind energy that comes from living on the edge of the Atlantic. We also have access to huge natural gas reserves, which is significantly greener that coal or oil. We are witness to the winds of change.
True change comes from our personal choices. At EnergyBroker, we have made it company policy to be carbon neutral. This can be achieved through a number of small tweaks. To give a few examples:
We have begun operating on Nitro software. This is an Irish company that promotes a paperless workplace through the use of electronic billing and e-contracts to cut down on carbon usage.
We have become corporate members of the Native Woodland Trust. This is a worthy organisation who aim to repopulate Ireland with native tree species. Each mature tree will offset a metric tonne of human carbon emission.
Our CEO, Phil McCabe, has even taken it upon himself to cycle from meeting to meeting using the Dublin Bike Scheme. (Frankly, we’re not sure if this is for environmental reasons or the manifestation of a mid-life crisis, but the results are the same).
The point we’re trying to make is that everyone can do their bit to create a sustainable work environment and that the more people who insist on green energy, the more the industry is going to have to change to accommodate them.
By signing up to be with EnergyBroker’s Renewable Energy scheme, we can offer you, at no extra cost, a green certificate, which ensures that your energy has been sourced in an environmentally friendly manner. This means that we can not only lower your energy bills, but also lower the environmental impact of your business, all at no extra cost. That’s three reasons to smile.
Today's blog post was written by our freelance content writer Bill Fingleton