An explanation for the 5 levels of grid carbon intensity shown by the EcoMeter feature.
Carbon footprint or intensity, is a measure of how clean the UK's electricity generation is. The five levels below refer to how many grams of carbon dioxide are released in order to produce one kilowatt hour of electricity.
The use of fossil fuels to generate electricity has a very high carbon footprint, whereas using renewable energy (such as solar or wind) is carbon-free.
When it's windy and sunny we don't need much fossil fuel generation, so the carbon intensity of the grid is low. However, if it's not windy or sunny, and there's lots of demand on the grid, we rely more heavily on burning fossil fuels to create electricity and the carbon intensity is high.
Using data from the National Grid, Loop's EcoMeter shows you the predicted carbon footprint for the next 24 hours. This can help you to plan when to charge heavy-duty appliances such as an electric vehicle, or a solar battery in order to minimise your carbon footprint.
As more renewables are built, it will become more important to use electricity at the greenest times. Loop will help you do this!
Read more about EcoMeter in our blog article here.