Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) are instrumental within the battle for a zero carbon future. In 2018, SMEs spent £25 billion on gasoline and electrical energy, simply shy of the £30 Billion spent by home clients, so it’s clear that they will be central to any efforts to decarbonise our vitality system.
From the buzzers and bells of Brighton Palace Pier to the life assist methods that maintain futuristic vertical farms, we’re proud to be powering 30,000 implausible companies. With that in thoughts, we thought we’d introduce a few of the fantastic SMEs driving for a low-carbon future, and placing our clear, inexperienced electrons to good use within the course of.
Brighton Palace Pier
Picture courtesy of Go to Brighton
Open since 1899, the world well-known Brighton Palace Pier is the fourth most visited attraction within the UK, attracting a whopping 4.9m guests yearly. The 1,722 toes lengthy, 5 acre Pier is a jewel of Victorian structure, however the vitality they use to energy their points of interest has come a good distance during the last century. From curler coasters to bumper vehicles, Brighton Pier now makes use of our clear, inexperienced electrons to energy their 18 implausible funfair rides, giving hoards of holiday makers a prime afternoon out with out having to fret about their carbon footprint.
In addition to the rides themselves, our electrical energy is used to maintain the lights on and the bells ringing in two arcades, and to run two bars, a restaurant, and an entire host of smaller catering retailers and points of interest. So get your self down for a enjoyable crammed, environmentally pleasant time out!
Brighton Gin
A pebble’s throw from Brighton Palace Pier, Brighton Gin makes use of Octopus’ electrical energy to energy Brighton’s first (authorized) distillery. Brighton Gin began with a lightbulb second (founder Kathy was jogging on the seafront one morning and realised that by sticking to gin she’d by some means dodged a hangover) – and it’s a pleasure to have stored that lightbulb shining since.
“We’re delighted to make use of renewable energy from Octopus Vitality to energy the Brighton Gin Cave (our distillery, workplace and cupboard space multi functional little unit) within the cleanest approach attainable.”
Kathy, Founder, Brighton Gin
Eager to embody the spirit of their hometown (pun supposed), they delight themselves on upholding the identical inexperienced requirements which are a lot part of Brighton – a famously forward-thinking metropolis. Brighton Gin use our vitality for every thing from powering the nonetheless on which the gin is made to warming the wax they use to seal the bottles. They’ve even been utilizing our inexperienced electrons for native deliveries, due to their magnificent rechargeable e-cargo bike, which has clocked a powerful 1000 miles of renewably-powered journeys within the final 6 months.
LettUS Develop
The parents at LettUs Develop are devoted to decreasing carbon footprints and meals waste, by permitting anybody, anyplace, to develop scrumptious meals. That’s proper. With their ‘vertical farming’ expertise and software program, they’re designing and constructing the farms of the longer term. At their aeroponic container farm, DROP & GROW, they develop meals with out soil or pesticides, utilizing LEDS and mist as an alternative of pure mild and water. On condition that agriculture presently accounts for almost 50% of liveable land use, and 23% of World Carbon emissions, vertical farms have the potential to radically rework our meals provide networks, supplying hyper-local, recent produce to communities.
LettUs Develop’s two analysis & improvement farms, based mostly in Bristol, are each powered by Octopus Vitality’s 100% renewable vitality. What’s maybe most enjoyable is that they’ve additionally teamed up with us to combine their farm administration software program, Ostara, with our half-hourly, variably priced AgileOctopus sensible tariff. This offers them entry to low cost, inexperienced, off-peak vitality, which is useful provided that vitality often accounts for 40-50% of vertical farms’ manufacturing prices.
The combination with AgileOctopus permits them to offer the crops ‘down time’ between 3-7pm when electrical energy is in excessive demand (and most costly), which cuts prices, and likewise takes pressure off {the electrical} grid at occasions when the UK often has to name on soiled fossil gasoline mills to fulfill demand.
Oxford Clay Handmade Ceramics
Oxford Clay Handmade Ceramics specialises in ceramics which are designed to trigger minimal impression on people, animals and the setting. Their merchandise are all constructed from clay sourced throughout the UK, glazed with recycled wooden ash and fired in an energy-efficient kiln powered by our 100% renewable vitality. All Oxford Clay’s ceramics have even been licensed as vegan by The Vegan Society! For years, founder Catherine Tomlinson has been involved concerning the lack of knowledge concerning the elements ceramics are sometimes made with – a lot of that are obtained in methods which are dangerous to animals, folks and the setting, so she’s been working onerous to set issues proper.
Treflach Farm
Treflach Farm is a crossroads for a number of completely different teams and communities, centred on animal welfare, and sustainability and look after the setting. They promote every thing from home made apple pies to cheese and onion pasties, with all of the elements grown on the farm, utilizing sustainable practices. Their enterprise mannequin, based mostly round a round economic system, has seen them domesticate biodiversity, work in the direction of ‘zero waste to landfill’ and begin to generate their very own vitality on website. Working on self-generated vitality is a noble objective and we’re cheering Treflach on, however within the meantime, we offer our 100% inexperienced electrical energy to assist their vitality wants.
Myst-Tree Cider
Greg, founding father of Myst-Tree Cider, is a superb instance of an entrepreneuring buyer who has just lately determined to place our 100% renewable electrons to good use. He’s chosen to deal with honey, mead, and cider, and whereas we deal with supplying inexperienced vitality, we’re very a lot on the identical wavelength.
“I’m proud to be constructing a enterprise based mostly on comparable ideas to Octopus Vitality – being as environmentally pleasant as attainable, whereas providing clients a top-quality product”
Greg, Founder, Myst-Tree Cider
To provide mead commercially, Greg realised that he would wish a hefty provide of fine unfiltered honey, which is pricey. He was additionally eager to make use of native honey, and so determined to begin beekeeping himself. In addition to the advantages his hives deliver to the native ecosystem, the manufacturing consumes numerous vitality – grinding fruit, extracting honey, together with all the pumps, mixers and temperature controls wanted for fermentation – so we’re over the Moon that he’s opted to make use of our super-green electrons. For Greg, nevertheless, it was a no brainer:
I selected to go together with Octopus Vitality as my sole vitality provider due to its 100% inexperienced renewable vitality and their affordable costs. Renewable vitality is extraordinarily essential to me, not simply from an ethos perspective but additionally from a enterprise standpoint too. The uncooked supplies for my merchandise are all affected by international warming.
