Energy in your home
The energy you use in your home is for many people the largest element of their carbon footprint – typically around 25%.
If we are going to make Ilkley a carbon neutral town by 2030 we all need to be thinking about our consumption and how we might reduce it.
Energy Saving Tips
Some energy saving measures like use a washing line rather than tumble drier are common sense. Others are sometimes overlooked.
This list published by National Energy Action is a good reminder.
And the Energy Savings Trust has a useful list with savings per year attached.
How is your electricity being generated right now?
Nuclear, wind, solar etc …this website will tell you https://gridwatch.co.uk/
This site will also tell you including carbon emissions and a map of renewable energy sites in the UK… http://www.mygridgb.co.uk/dashboard/
Energy In Ilkley
A starting point is to know how much energy we consume now and the maps below show consumption by postcode in 2018.
If you want to look up the figures for your own postcode you can view the list via google sheets here
If you would like time to examine the spreadsheet you can download this excel file Ilkley Energy 2018
The average energy consumption per household for all Ilkley is:-
Gas: 20,000 kWh 34% above the national average
Electricity: 3,800 kWh 7% above national average
Total Energy: 24,000 kWh 30% above national average
Research has shown that energy consumption is related to size of home and household income. So it’s not surprising that Ilkley’s energy use is higher than the national average.
We can convert the above figures into the cost for the average Ilkley household.
Using 14.13p for electricity and 3.12p for gas that’s £1,200 a year in addition to the standing charge.
Together we all spend around £6.7 million a year on energy split £3.6 million on gas and £3.1 million on electricity.
CO2 Emissions
The amount of energy used can be converted into CO2 emissions.
The current rates are:- Gas: 0.185 kg per kWh and electricity 0.233 kg per kWh
All Ilkley uses 22 million kWh of electricity per year. That’s responsible for 5.1 million kg of CO2
When we burn gas in our boilers they produce 115 million kWh which leave 21.3 million kg of CO2 in the atmosphere.
It’s hard to get your head around such big numbers and hard to see how they will reduce to zero by 2030. But we have to try.
Use less Energy
Climate Action Ilkley is underway with 2 energy related community projects – one concerned with insulation the other with solar panels.
You can register your interest in either or both these projects via the forms in this Energy Saving menu.
Because of lockdown our progress has been slower than we would have liked but if you register we will contact you to as soon as things move forward.
Will technology save us?
There are developments in the pipeline. For example Keele University is running a pilot scheme to inject hydrogen into the regular gas supply. You can read about it here
If hydrogen is adopted on a wide scale it will significantly reduce the carbon emissions from your boiler. But it will still leave householders with plenty to do – insulate, use green electricity including your own, lower the thermostat…
