Director

August 2009

Wind of change

From a car dealer to a provider of environmentally friendly electricity is a big leap. But Doug Stewart, founder of Green Energy UK, says he saw an opportunity to ease his conscience and create a commercially viable venture. "If you can make money doing good then you shouldn't be uncomfortable with that as a business model," he explains.

The company buys its electricity -100 per cent renewable and 100 per cent green - from a wide range of sources. Renewable means wind, sun and water. Green energy is low carbon and low impact, bought from combined heat and power units that recycle materials such as pig waste or vegetable oil into fuel. "We're not wedded to wind," says Stewart. "What we like is predictable energy. We've always supported small-scale and emerging technologies. We set out to try to convert people from brown [fossil fuel/nuclear] to green energy."

Stewart says his customer base ranges from homes using as little as £50 worth of fuel a year to big businesses seeking to mitigate their environment impact by using a green tariff. What unites them, he says, is their desire to "take ethical stewardship" of the planet. "We deal with nice people at both ends of the spectrum, who collectively want to make a difference," he says.

Fittingly, he intends to grow the business organically, without seeking further investment.