Green gas
Ecotricity began with a mission to replace electricity made by burning fossil fuels with green energy. We succeeded and now we aim to replace fossil fuel natural gas with sustainable green gas.
How is green gas made?
Unlike other forms of green gas which often use animal waste, ours is made ethically and sustainably from grass cuttings. The grass is broken down by anaerobic digestion in vats, producing biomethane. This is then captured and fed into the grid.
How does low carbon gas work?
When the gas burns, carbon will go into the atmosphere, but it will be reabsorbed when the grass grows back creating a sustainable natural cycle. We estimate that if we grow grass on all the marginal land in Britain, we’ll be able to make enough green gas to supply the entire country.
Can we power Britain with green gas?
Yes. Our 2022 report on powering Britain using green gasmills shows exactly how we can do it without taking away land for food production.
As the report demonstrates, we can power both homes and businesses with green gas – and it’s much cheaper and faster than making everyone convert to heat pumps.
Green gas facts
To find out more about how green gas works read our Green Gas Factsheet and our report on Feeding a Green gasmill.
Carbon neutralised green gas
Currently, about 1% of the gas we supply comes from other green gasmills, and the rest is natural gas. The residual carbon emissions from our fossil fuel gas are offset by investing in carbon reduction schemes around the world to carbon neutralise all the gas we supply.
Carbon offsetting isn’t ideal – we see it as an interim solution until we can ramp up production of our sustainable green gas.
Carbon reduction projects
Our carbon reduction projects have a range of environmental and community benefits. We’re currently in the process of reviewing the upcoming projects we intend to support for the next financial year. Watch this space.
Projects we have supported over the years include;
Our green gasmills
Find out more about the low carbon green gasmills we're building with the aim of transforming Britain's gas grid for good...
Reading, Berkshire
Here at Ecotricity, we’re making an investment in green gas by building our new green gasmill in Reading, Berkshire. Current plans are for the mill at Reading to produce enough green gas to supply 4,170 homes*, saving up to 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually**.
*Based on OFGEM revised TDCV medium household consumption for 2023.
**Estimated likely carbon saving based on plant operating parameters of 82g per kWh saved compared to fossil fuel natural gas.