Energy management
Climate change
Man-made climate change is a serious issue that faces us all. Were committed to reducing our carbon emissions with a strong focus on using energy efficiently throughout our business.
Working with the Carbon Trust
We've been working with the Carbon Trust since 2004, which has helped us to analyse, manage and reduce our carbon footprint and costs, and introduce new energy-efficiency programmes
We have an Energy Management Steering Group (EMSG) that includes senior members of the business. It looks at issues including:
- How our mobile network can be designed to be more energy efficient
- How we can procure our energy more sustainably
- How we can manage our facilities more sustainably
Target for 2008
We've set ourselves the ambitious target of reducing our overall energy consumption by 5% in 2008. We're looking at lots of ways to help us get there, and our recent initiatives include:
- Shutting down air conditioning systems for a longer overnight period
- Turning off vending machines at night
The EMSG are also investigating a number of other options including:
- A PC switch-off campaign
- Switching to more efficient LED lighting in some areas of our Hatfield campus
We've recently completed a two-year project to install electricity Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), also known as "smart -meter", devices at 6,000 network sites, the first company in the country to roll out these devices on such a large scale. The smart meter technology allows us to make more informed decisions about our energy use by recording and storing electricity units used on a site, and transmitting details via a SIM to a secure database. As well as improving our energy efficiency, we expect to reduce our electricity bills by 7% per annum by transferring to the most appropriate energy tariffs.
Energy consumption at T-Mobile's network sites is now measured every half hour. We can even drill down to understand how the air conditioning is working, and how each site is affected by the weather, and make adjustments accordingly.
Our project clearly demonstrates that by having intelligence about the energy you use, you can not only be more carbon efficient, you can save a substantial amount of money too.
Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks says, "Smart meter technology enables us to cut our energy use and reduce the impact of climate change. That is why we are committed to rolling them out to all homes and businesses over the next decade. By installing smart meters across its sites in the UK, T-Mobile is leading the way in this metering revolution."
Using renewable energy
Fifty per cent of all energy purchased by T-Mobile UK is from renewable sources, and we aim to increase this amount.
Reducing travel emissions
We carry out annual travel surveys to monitor how our employees get to and from work.
Car sharing scheme
In response to employee requests at our Hatfield HQ, we set-up a car sharing scheme, where sharers can use priority parking spaces. Now over one third of employees on-site are registered sharers.
Similar incentives for car sharing take place at our other major sites around the UK, including our three customer contact centres.
Promoting public transport
We also encourage employees to use public transport or cycle to work. Our Hatfield site has a Bicycle Users Group which meets regularly to suggest new initiatives to encourage cycling. The Group suggested we install showers and changing room facilities for cyclists, which we provided in July 2007.
Reducing unnecessary travel
We also encourage employees to use our video-conferencing and audio-conferencing facilities, to help us minimise unnecessary travel.
