A new website launched this week that shows the ‘carbon intensity’ of our electricity in real time.
Realtime carbon shows how much carbon is generated per unit of electricity at any given moment. A cursory glance at the homepage shows how demand rises and falls. As it rises, at daybreak for example, more power stations come online. Coal power stations are the easiest to power up at short notice, so we burn more coal at peak times, and therefore generate more carbon.
By taking a look at the carbon intensity of electricity, you can choose when to run your dishwasher or washing machine, help spread the load on the national grid, and cut our carbon emissions from power stations.
