National Grid launches the ‘Green Light Signal’

The clever gadget is powered by National Grid’s carbon intensity API (carbonintensity.org.uk), a carbon intensity forecasting tool with a regional breakdown, built by National Grid ESO, WWF and The University of Oxford and The European Defence Fund.

John Pettigrew, Chief Executive of National Grid, said: “Climate change is the biggest crisis humanity faces. As a Principal Partner of COP26, we want to give people hope by making them aware of the transformational changes taking place in the energy sector as we move towards a clean energy future. Great Britain’s energy system hit a new green record earlier this month with almost 80% of electricity coming from zero carbon sources and, in the last seven years, we have cut carbon emissions from the electricity system by 66 per cent.

"We know there is still lots to do, but by showing people the progress that’s been made and bringing them together to better understand energy consumption with tools like the Green Light Signal, collectively we can make a real and significant impact in the fight against climate change.”
 

The Power of All 

70 per cent of Brits believe that individual efforts to save electricity and use greener energy sources can make a difference in the fight against climate change. And increased news coverage on the topic has led a whopping 89 per cent to be more mindful about the way they use electricity at home.

Top ways Brits are trying to make greener energy decisions at home include: filling the kettle with only the amount of water they need when boiling (52%); wearing more layers to negate the need to heat the home (44%); having short showers over baths (43%); reducing the amount of laundry washed (31%); and, leaving the oven door open to heat up the home after use (28%). However, 15 per cent of Brits don't believe that individual efforts to save electricity will help fight climate change.

There are also things we will not contemplate giving up in the fight against climate change – using computers less (50%), eating less meat (45%), eating less fish (43%) and drinking less coffee (42%) top the list. For millennials, streaming services like Netflix (42%) just could not be sacrificed, while giving up eating avocados to help fight the climate crisis proved a bridge too far for a further quarter (25%) of Gen-Z and Millennials.

• New research from National Grid reveals 38 per cent of UK adults feel hopeless about climate change and worry about the future of the planet. This is fuelled by an ‘energy awareness gap’ with 42 per cent of Brits mistakenly believing that Britain only gets up to 10 per cent of its electricity supplied by zero and low-carbon energy sources. (Actual = 55%)

• Carbon jargon is making it more difficult for Brits to engage on the issue, with many having never heard of terms like carbon neutral (42%) or net zero (61%). Only 10 per cent of UK adults have heard of COP26 – the UN climate conference to be hosted in the UK this November.

• Half (51%) of Brits said they would feel more hopeful if they understood the steps Britain is taking towards reaching net zero, while two in five (41%) would feel more positive if they knew the cleanest time of day to use electricity.

• To help, National Grid is launching the Green Light Signal – a new low-energy smart bulb that shows people the cleanest times to use electricity.