Click the relevant picture to find out more about each energy type.
With boilers over 15 years old you can waste around 25p for every pound you spend. Replace with a new boiler and controls
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COMBINED HEAT AND POWER (CHP)
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Combined heat and power (CHP) is the simultaneous generation of heat and power (usually electricity) in a single process.
In a standard power plant a huge amount of energy is lost as waste heat. CHP plants harness this 'waste' heat for a useful purpose
(heating a block of flats for example). As a result CHP plants can be up to 95% efficient, almost twice as efficient as gas or coal fired power stations.
The CHP process is therefore both green and Climate Change Levy exempt.
Most of the CHP we buy comes from two very different sources
- Industrial- Electricity is generated by growers of tomatoes and peppers. They burn gas to heat their green houses or to actually produce Carbon Dioxide
to enrich the growing atmosphere of the plants. This green electricity produced is a useful by product that the nurseries can’t use so sell back to us at
green energy uk where it is fed into the grid for others to use.
- Residential- A CHP plant supplies heating to a grid of insulated hot water pipes that carry heat around a building often public or private sector flats.
Meanwhile, the electricity generated is used within the communal areas or is exported to the electricity grid.
For further information on the benefits of CHP click
here.
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
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Anaerobic digestion – a process where microorganisms break down organic material without any oxygen – produces a methane- and carbon dioxide-rich biogas.
This can be burnt to produce energy, with none of the harmful effects of fossil fuels. And what's more, the nutrient-rich solids left after digestion can be
handily used as a fertiliser!
HYDRO
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Hydro-electricity means taking the force of free-falling water and converting it into power. Some of our energy comes from small hydro-electric schemes
in Scotland, Dorset and Cornwall.
WIND
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Does what it says on the tin. Our suppliers use the force of the wind to drive turbines, which in turn make electricity.
BIOMASS
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Biomass is produced from organic material – that's wood, plants and animal waste to you and me. We get this either directly from plants, or from waste products from industry, agriculture or your very own home!
Biomass falls into two categories:
- Wood biomass includes forest products, waste wood and energy crops like elephant grass and quick-growing trees like willow.
We buy energy created from burning waste wood.
- Non-wood biomass includes animal waste and biodegradable food products like vegetable oil.
SOLAR
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A solar cell (or a 'photovoltaic cell' to you scientists out there) takes the light from the sun and converts it into power.
'Solar thermal systems' take heat from the sun and use it to heat water in our homes.