Good Energy leads by example as it slashes carbon emissions by a third

By Peter Davison

17 July 2023

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Good Energy sustainabilty manager Cherish Jackson

Renewable energy supplier Good Energy has slashed its carbon emissions by a third in just one year as it leads the way in tackling the climate crisis.

Moving to a new energy-efficient office, supporting staff in working from home, and encouraging employees to use public transport for business travel have led to the reduction from producing 158.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021 to 102.9 in 2022.

This year it hopes to make even more progress as part of its commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative, a global body enabling businesses to set emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science.

It commits Good Energy to the ambitious goal of a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.

Good Energy sources its power from a UK network of more than 1,700 independent generators including solar farms, wind farms and hydroelectric projects, allowing it to match customers with 100 per cent renewable electricity. It also recently expanded into the installation of heat pumps and solar panels.

However, the business wants to set a positive example by drastically reducing its own impact on the environment.

The biggest cut in emissions was achieved by moving to a modern new energy-efficient office overlooking Monkton Park in Chippenham, powered by renewable electricity and green gas.

It also made a permanent switch to hybrid-working model which allows its 350 staff to work from home for part of the week - slashing commuting emissions from 427 tonnes in 2018 to 74.5 tonnes in 2022, a reduction of more than 80 per cent.

In addition, the use of public transport for business travel has almost doubled from 2019 to 2022, from 40 per cent to 76 per cent, with a reduction in carbon emissions from 12.5 tonnes to 3.3 tonnes.

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Good Energy sustainability and facilities manager Cherish Jackson said: “We volunteered to sign up to Science Based Targets because we wanted to set ambitious goals which would accelerate the pace of change.

“We’re now taking a closer look at our supply chains and including working from home in our calculations, and some emissions will increase this year due to the expansion into heat pumps and solar, but we've already made impressive progress thanks to the enthusiastic support of our staff.

“We are passionate about our planet and want to create a cleaner, greener future for all.”

By Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country.

An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts.

Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.