Yes, buying renewable energy helps to support generators and encourage investment in new renewable projects. But doing this isn’t quite as simple as choosing a “green” or “renewable” tariff from your supplier. Generators of renewable electricity are given certificates known as REGOs by Ofgem, the energy regulator, to certify the greenness of the electricity produced. But it is currently perfectly legal for these certificates to be bought and sold separately from the energy itself. Many suppliers are taking advantage of this to buy all or most of their electricity from fossil fuel sources and then buy sufficient REGOs to label it as “100% renewable”. This means that although more than half of energy products sold in the UK are branded as “green”, very few actually involve directly supporting renewable generators. The government is currently working on reforming this outdated system, but in the meantime businesses seeking to decarbonise their energy supply will have to do their homework. Ask your electricity supplier if they are recognised by Ofgem as providing additionality: that is, directly contributing to the construction of new renewable energy facilities. Tariffs that provide genuine additionality are granted an exemption to the tariff cap and there will be a letter from Ofgem to prove this. Another option chosen by a growing number of UK businesses is to buy electricity directly from generators through a corporate power purchase agreement, or CPPA. As for gas, the greenest option is biomethane, but the UK doesn’t make enough to meet even 1% of our gas needs, so it isn’t possible to decarbonise your supply. Opting for a gas tariff with a “green gas” element is helpful, but in the long term the best option is to move away from gas by electrifying gas-powered systems such as heating.