BT makes green pledge

BT has announced a three year plan to get all of its electricity from renewable and fuel efficient sources. The company is today expected to announce new contracts with Npower and British Gas, under which BT’s energy will be guaranteed to come from a mixture of renewable sources such as wind and wave generation, and combined heat and power plants that are low in carbon emissions. The contracts are expected to be worth several million pounds. According to the FT, BT accounts for 1.8% of the UK’s non-domestic electricity consumption. Moving to green energy will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 325,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to that produced by almost 50,000 homes or 100,000 cars. The plan comes after the UK government’s call for 10% of the UK’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2010 in an effort to reduce global warming. According to the Kyoto climate change agreement, the UK is legally bound to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2010.