Climate change - our responsibility to take action
We believe in leading by example. As part of our commitment to safeguarding our global environment for future generations, we are dedicated to reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions.
We have completed a thorough review of our greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the 2007/08 fiscal year, including the former KeySpan operations as if we had owned them for an entire year. This has provided a detailed assessment of the carbon footprint for each line of business and has helped identify the most effective and economical ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon budgets and emission reduction targets, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, were adopted by each line of business in April 2009.
We have been exploring ways that the UK can meet the European Union’s renewable target. This target focuses on achieving 15% of energy demand from renewable sources by 2020. Transmission UK have developed the Gone Green scenario that anticipates a sizeable increase in the volume of onshore and offshore wind generation. We have worked with the Electricity Networks Strategy Group to examine proposed investments to deliver the necessary transmission infrastructure.
It is estimated that there are some five million homes in the UK affected by fuel poverty; we intend to invest around £10 million ($14.4 million) in new gas connections to some 5,000 homes. With others, we have secured commitment for around £13 million ($18.7 million) in third party funding for new gas heating. We estimate that this investment will help reduce emissions by 20,000 tonnes per year.
In the US, we have added around 60 new compressed natural gas cars to our nearly 700 strong fleet of vehicles this year, furthering our effort to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce greenhouse gases. Our generation stations make up a sizeable proportion of our carbon emissions. Ongoing projects to modernise and improve the efficiency of these plants, such as the project at Northport on Long Island, will play a major role in helping us reach our 80% target greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2050.