Energy Group to go Net Zero by 2050

Islands Energy Group, parent company of Isle of Man Energy ( formerly Manx Gas), has revealed its plans to become a Net Zero business by 2050.

The company made its commitment in its new group-wide sustainability strategy – Our Journey to Net Zero.

The strategy follows an organisational rebrand from Manx Gas to Isle of Man Energy in 2022, as it continues to transform the business from gas supply to energy management.

Chief EO at Islands Energy Group Jo Cox said: ‘The sustainability strategy outlines fundamental changes we must make as a Group to reduce our environmental impact. Every business is responsible for making positive sustainable change, and for us as an energy company, we know how significant our part to play in that is.

Jo Cox

‘We have been taking care of the island’s energy needs for almost 200 years and our commitment to customers and the island remains unchanged. Our customers remain at the core of our sustainable ambitions. Energy needs to move in a new low-carbon direction – it’s a priority for our customers, our employees, and our government, and we’re responding to that.’

Alex Herschel, Chief Sustainability Officer added: ‘There are four pillars within the strategy, each outlining a key area to manage, monitor and reduce our carbon emissions and support our customers to do the same, protect our local environment and give back to our local community. Along with long-term goals to introduce new products and technologies, our strategy shows how we will explore exciting sources of energy such as renewable gas.

Alex Herschel

‘We’ve also defined our carbon emission scope boundaries and targets because you can’t manage what you don’t measure. One of the first steps we took on our journey to Net Zero was to set up a new carbon reporting framework to international standards so that we could robustly calculate our operational carbon footprint and that of the gas we supply to our customers. This information then went into setting our Net Zero Action Plan and science-based carbon reduction targets for the business. We will release a sustainability report which will show how we’re doing against our sustainability performance targets and where we need to improve our performance.’

Hydrogen

There is a lot in this, so we’re going to try and break it down a tad.

Alex Herschel talks about renewable gas, this is and combination of biogas (created when organic matter breaks down) and green hydrogen (generated from renewable energy and water).

The report says that there are a number of challenges to meet, namely ensuring the network and people’s boilers are hydrogen ready. Despite this possible issue, IEG says the Isle of Man is better placed than the Channel Islands for this technology.

However, we have previously reported on a report commissioned by the gov in 2021 that appeared to rule out the use of hydrogen on island as it was uneconomical.

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You can read more about IEG’s plans on its website.