Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Government cheats to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets

What is believed to be the UK’s largest ever electricity supply contract by annual volume has been awarded by the Government Procurement Service to EDF Energy (Electricité de France).

This French-owned company will supply an annual electricity consumption of about 7.6TWh over four-years to a "a vast range" of public buildings across England and Wales, from inner city academies to museums like the British Museum and the National Gallery, from central Government departments to major hospitals.

Why did EDF get this lucrative contract?

Well, the service agreement does not just include the supply of power but helping the Government meet its self-imposed target of a 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2015 from a September 2010 baseline.

Given that EDF manages eight existing nuclear power stations at sites across the country, by switching to a high proportion of nuclear electricity supply, greenhouse gas emissions from these public buildings will automatically be reduced without the need for other remedial action.

Bingo! The Government can claim it has reduced its emissions - without it making any difference to those of the country as a whole!

Vincent de Rivaz, CEO of EDF Energy, said "As the UK’s largest supplier of electricity to businesses and the leading generator of low carbon electricity, we have the expertise to support the Government in its sustainability agenda, improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.”

No wonder!

See the previous post about EDF's new nuclear plans.

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