Monday 8 September 2014

M&S secures green gas certificates

Marks & Spencer is getting green gas certificates to slash its carbon footprint.

After a deal announced today it will buy Biomethane Gas Certificates from Future Biogas to counter its emissions by more than 6,400 tonnes.

It should also produce enough energy to heat 15 M&S stores all year round.

The biomethane gas is 50% more carbon efficient than average gas supplies, said M&S.

It will be produced at the Vulcan Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant near Doncaster using break crops (non-commercial crops used for soil regeneration) from farms across Yorkshire and the North East.

This brings the retailer one step closer to having 50% of the energy used in M&S buildings from certified green biomethane sources by 2020, according to Gio Patellaro, M&S Head of Energy Supply & Risk.

He said: “Over the past couple of years, M&S has worked tirelessly to improve its carbon efficiency and innovate in sustainability. As the first UK retailer to buy biomethane to use in this way, we are blazing a trail in the market place that we hope others will follow.”