Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which provider supplies energy to her Department; how much CO2 was emitted through her Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria her Department uses to select an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.

I am responding in relation the Departmental headquarters building at 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET, where most staff are based.

Energy is supplied by Corona (gas) and EDF (electricity), and the total carbon emissions for 2018/19 was 2607.31 tonnes of CO2e. The Department does not hold the figure for how much of this specifically relates to energy consumption.

The Department uses the Crown Commercial Services energy frameworks for the supply of utilities, which can be used to secure the supply of energy from renewable resources. The Department is committed to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment and achieving net zero emissions by 2025, which is why from 1 October 2019, electricity will be supplied solely from renewable resources. In addition, work is already underway to source the gas supply solely from renewable resources.

The Department has established a cross-departmental programme of measures to achieve its net zero emissions commitment, including measures to increase energy efficiency, such as: replacing all lighting with LED bulbs managed by presence and daylight-saving monitors; and the installation of a fully automated energy management system.