Our most significant uses of resources are those used for electricity generation. Each year we burn millions of tonnes of fossil fuels to generate electricity. As our generation portfolio transforms to change the way we generate electricity, the use of fossil fuels will reduce as part of a diverse range of generation fuels.

Fuel Used, Generation(Mtce)

		2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Coal		9.97	8.49	8.52	8.49	7.51
Natural Gas		5.78	5.48	5.55	5.17	5.65
Oil		0.03	0.23	0.51	0.34	0.30

Mtce = million tonnes of coal equivalent

The energy content of the fuel we use is shown in the table above in terms of million tonnes of coal equivalent. We used less coal in 2007 than in the previous year, but we used more natural gas to generate an increased amount of power.

Fuel Used Intensity (Mtce/TWh)

2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
0.34	0.32	0.33	0.33	0.31

Mtce/TWh = million tonnes of coal equivalent per TeraWatt hour

Because we used proportionally more gas than coal compared to 2006 and because our renewable output increased, we used less fuel in terms of energy content per unit of electricity generated in 2007.

Our commercial fleet of vehicles use a significant amount of fuel. The pattern of fuel use from our distribution business' commercial fleet is affected by a wide range of operational factors. These include work scheduling, the amount of network improvements as well as routine and emergency maintenance we need to carry out.

One factor affecting our fleet mileage is the location of our reporting centres for our field teams. During 2007, we invested in a number of smaller local reporting centres located closer to where our people live. This initiative reduced the overall travelling our teams are required to do.

We're committed to improving the fuel efficiency of our operational fleet and we've implemented a policy for company cars which limits them to carbon dioxide emissions of no more than 165 g/km. We're continuing our planned programme of replacing older, less efficient vehicles in our commercial fleet with new ones. In 2007 we invested more than £5m in new commercial fleet vehicles.

Speed limiters save carbon dioxide

In 2008, we're testing the installation of speed limiters on our commercial vehicles. Other large companies have seen an improvement in fuel efficiency of between 1.5% and 2.5%. If the tests are successful and the speed limiters are introduced across the whole commercial fleet, this could translate to a reduction in fuel consumption of around 72,000 litres per year.

We also use significant quantities of water for electricity generation. Overall rates of water use are typically fairly constant and follow the pattern of generation output. Most of the water we use is returned to source afterwards; however a small percentage is lost as water vapour at power stations equipped with cooling towers.

Water Used, Generation ( million cubic metres)

	2006	2007
Cooling water	1,723.22	1,795.43
Hydroelectric	169	172
Process water	18.73	14.75