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Our story

All the things that make us Britain’s greenest energy company
Our story

Our manifesto

Our focus on energy is part of our wider vision for a zero carbon Britain

Our mission to end the use of fossil fuels is part of our wider agenda, as set out by our founder Dale Vince in his book, Manifesto.

In Manifesto, Dale explains how the climate emergency needs to be tackled across the three key areas of the economy that generate the most carbon emissions: energy, transport and food.

In Energy

As Britain’s leading green energy company, Ecotricity supplies green electricity and gas to homes and businesses across the UK. We’ve built wind and sun mills up and down the country and supply our customers with 100% green electrcity. Now we’re leading the way by building green gasmills with the aim of making Britain’s gas supply 100% sustainable. See the Our green energy section of our site for more details on our ventures in energy.

In Transport

One of our main initiatives in transport is The Electric Highway, a charging network for electric vehicles across Britain. Using The Electric Highway, motorists can charge their EVs using clean, green electricity, generated renewably with wind and sun power. We are also active in the development of high performance electric cars and motorbikes.

In Food

Our energy and food commitments intersect with our provision of vegan certified energy. The factory farming of animals is a huge contributor to global carbon emissions and by products of this industrial model are used to generate electricity. We'll have no part in that. In addition, The Devil’s Kitchen is one of our sister companies in the Ecotricity group. It already produces vegan food which is served at Forest Green Rovers FC, provides healthy dinners to schools and will soon be available in the shops.

To find out how much carbon your Energy, Transport and Food generates each year, use our Carbon Footprint Calculator. You can then take steps to reduce or offset your personal or household impact.

See below for our government policy work

Lobbying the UK government

Since Ecotricity was founded in 1995, Britain has increased its green energy output from 3% to 33%, but there’s still a long way to go. That’s why we’ve been lobbying the UK government to pursue wider reaching and more determined policies to address the climate emergency.

To make our case, we asked the independent consultancy Cambridge Econometrics to model the economic impacts of a future green Britain – one with more ambitious carbon emissions targets, more renewable energy and the use of electric vehicles. The study revealed a wide range of benefits including an increase in GDP of up to £5 billion, a saving of £8 billion on oil imports and £1.25 billion-worth in health and environmental benefits.

Our suggestions to the government include:

  • Appointing a Minister for Carbon – to set carbon limits across economic sectors

  • Achieving 80% renewable energy by 2030 – saving £11.7 billion in fossil fuel costs

  • Implementing ‘Quantitative Greening’ – quantitative easing by the Bank of England, going directly into the renewables sector

  • Ending fossil fuel subsidies – by 2025

  • Supporting electric vehicles – let’s scrap VAT on EVs and make sure all cars are electric by 2030

People sometimes think that going green means that you have to give something up, or that it’s all about saving polar bears. In fact, going green represents a huge opportunity for Britain in terms of jobs, industry, health and more. We’re urging all political parties to adopt our 2030 vision.

Going green represents a huge opportunity for Britain in terms of jobs, industry, health and more.

Find out more...

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DaleVince.com

Our founder Dale Vince shares his thoughts on the green revolution

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Climate Clock

The Climate Clock is a version of the Doomsday clock that has been running since 1947 - this tracks the risk of global man-made disaster, through man made technology (like nuclear weapons) - displaying the minutes and seconds left before midnight, when disaster strikes. The climate crisis is a small part of the calculations made.
The climate clock uses a similar approach, but, focuses only on the climate crisis - which is the biggest and most urgent existential threat we face.
"The Climate Clock is a countdown to the biggest man-made disaster we face - but also a measure by which we can track our progress - moving from fossil to renewable energy. It shows we have no time to lose - the clock is ticking…" Dale Vince, OBE.