Fair play to the GAA: "Every club can help the environment"
Glad to go green: Brian Delany, chairman, Clanna Gael Fontenoy.
Most of us are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of the choices we make when choosing an energy supplier for our home electricity and natural gas. Flogas has made massive improvements to its products to make that decision a little easier.
We spoke with the General Manager of Flogas Energy, Paul Kenny, on what Flogas has to offer and how they've made big changes in making its energy products environmentally friendly.
Flogas offers excellent value and service for residential customers and our residential natural gas and electricity products are 100% green. Flogas is an Irish-owned business that has been supplying energy of various forms since 1978. We have been recognised in national consumer awards for our price plans and for our innovation and we are the only supplier who can offer both electricity and gas (natural gas or LPG) to every home in Ireland.
Flogas is committed to renewable electricity and we ensure that all our electricity sales are 100% green. We contract directly in the all-island electricity market with renewable electricity generators, who now supply over 40% of the electricity market. For the balance of sales not directly supplied to us by renewable generators, we purchase renewable energy generation guarantees in international markets. 100% of the electricity supplied to all Flogas customers is sourced from renewable generation, in accordance with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities Green Source Product Verification requirements.
We strive for energy efficiency in all our operations and are committed to reducing our carbon emissions by 20% by 2025 and to net-zero by 2050. We are investing in new fuel-efficient vehicles and software technologies that reduce inefficient deliveries and we are improving our electronic communications, reducing postage by using electronic billing and our new customer portal.
We have contracts with over 80 individual renewable generation sites, comprising not just wind but also solar generation and anaerobic digestion generation. Our generators range from small rooftop domestic solar installations to large wind farm sites in rural locations. Our two largest wind generators are based as far apart as Cork and Donegal.
Flogas Green Future Dual Fuel is the only 100% carbon neutral offering for homes in Ireland. It comprises our 100% renewable electricity and carbon-neutral natural gas. Flogas partners with South Pole, a global leader in sustainability solutions to ensure that 100% of the natural gas on Flogas Green Future Gas or Dual fuel price plans are carbon offset through audited carbon reduction projects in developing countries. The projects in which we invest adhere to the internationally recognised Gold standards and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) criteria. We feel that this gives customers a valuable sustainable offering and no other supplier in the market is offering a carbon-neutral natural gas or dual fuel product. In 2021, Flogas will have offset over 21,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide, this is the equivalent of removing almost 12,000 cars from the road.
Check out our energy savings tips here.
There are many interesting new technologies available that assist in energy efficiency, from smart thermostats and smart lighting to the new smart meters that are being installed across the country.
Understanding your usage is critical and smart metering is particularly interesting in that it measures your electricity usage on a half-hourly basis.
We won the bonkers.ie National Consumer Award for Best Customer Innovation for our Green Future Gas product. According to the judges, ‘Flogas came up against some tough competition but won the Award for an important environmental innovation that offers a sustainable energy alternative for its customers, impressively achieved at no additional cost.”
It was particularly satisfying that it won not just against competitors in the energy markets but also against such innovative businesses as Virgin Media, Vodafone, and N26. This product gives our customers a valuable sustainable offering and is unique, with no other supplier in the market offering a carbon-neutral natural gas or dual fuel product.
The Galway International Arts Festival is an important partner for us. It is an internationally renowned festival and this year we supplied all the electricity, which was fully renewable, for the spectacular and award-winning Mirror Pavilion installation by John Gerrard in Claddagh Quay in Galway. We will be supporting it again in late August this year when it moves to the Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara when we look forward to powering it with fully renewable Bio LPG.
Flogas Energy has been supplying Clanna Gael Fontenoy with electricity and Natural Gas for over 16 months and the club was delighted that the electricity supply was designated to be from 100% renewable sources since late last year — something not available from all suppliers.
In addition, the club has recently switched to a Flogas Energy carbon-offset price plan for its natural gas, so all-natural gas usage is now carbon neutral, which together will mean the carbon footprint from energy use at the club is effectively eliminated.
“We think that every GAA club should be minimising its impact on the environment, and one of the easy steps in ensuring your energy supplier is providing 100% Green Electricity and the Greenest natural gas product possible,” said club chairman Brian Delany.
For more information visit flogas.ie
