Taken from: - No Author
Accessed on 17/10/2011
This shows that Tesco’s policy indicates how energy savings have been achieved. Tesco has achieved it in a number of stores and they have met their targets. Tesco’s have reduced the energy consumption by 50% by setting targets and achieving it. There are around 2,715 Tesco stores in the UK, but only 91 Tesco stores have been provided the fan inverter drives and this shows that the Tesco’s energy policy is not a very good policy and it is not reliable. Also they are using a lot of electricity, which means that they don’t require that much fuel. As the cooking for the restaurant and the bakeries takes place in the stores, less gas needed.
British Gas
“At British Gas we are always looking for ways to help customers be more energy efficient, save money and lower their carbon emissions. Before the Government plan to launch their Green Deal, we are offering our customers, who pay by Direct Debit, a British Gas Home Energy Plan.”
Taken from: URL: - No Author
Accessed on 17/10/2011
British Gas helps the customers to be more energy efficient, which means save energy and save money. The quote above shows the energy policies that I have researched for British Gas.
The energy policy set targets for reducing energy consumption by launching a Green Deal and this will be launched in 2012 and this gives an idea to the householders the opportunity to access energy saving improvements for their home, without upfront costs and repayments. The Green Deal would help the householders to save energy and money.
The British Gas also help the customers save energy by putting commercials on TV encouraging them to switch of appliances that are not being used i.e. turn off light bulbs, don’t put computers on standby, only charge phones & laptops etc for the time needed.
The Green Deal is a future Government plan that is currently scheduled to be in launched in the late 2012. This green deal is going to be launched to give an idea to householders the opportunity to access energy saving improvements for their home, without upfront costs and repayments to be made for up to 25 years. There will be properties that will be assessed for energy efficient improvements that could help householders save energy and money.
The British Gas Home Energy Plan provides a full home assessment where they survey the property and provide the customers with recommendations on the right solutions for the customer’s home. This includes the insulation to solar panels, so that the customers can generate their electricity at home. The British Gas Home Energy Plan is also planning to offer no upfront costs and the ability to pay for the customer’s improvements for up to 15 years.
EDF Energy
“Against a background of declining domestic energy supplies, rising fuel prices and aging power stations, the review sets out four policy goals:
- Cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050
- Ensuring a reliable energy supply
- Promoting competitive markets in the UK and beyond
-
Adequate and affordable heating for every home”
Taken from: - No Author
Accessed on 17/10/2011
This shows that EDF energy sets targets to reduce the energy consumption and the two major long-term challenges in the UK energy policy for EDF are reducing carbon dioxide emissions to tackle climate change and reducing the EDF’s dependence on imported energy and ensuring a secure supply of clean affordable energy.
There are some solutions that can help EDF reduce the energy consumption and save money, which is a mix of energy supplies is essential and new nuclear sources could make a significant contribution. Also they should increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable to 20%. The government will act to develop the remaining reserves of the British oil. The homeowners need help to understand and reduce their energy bills, while large organisations need to reduce emissions.
McDonalds
McDonalds is a well known organisation and it is identified as a fast food restaurant. The organisation is recognised from young children to adults.
In this section of the assignment, I will be researching about McDonald’s energy policies and I will criticise the policies so I will explain if it’s good or bad and I also be justifying it along.
I have researched the energy policy of McDonalds and I have stated below what the energy policy is and how McDonald’s set targets for reducing the energy consumption which are stated below that I have got from the McDonalds website.
McDonald’s energy policy sets targets for reducing energy consumption and how the energy savings will be achieved.
“We recognise that our energy and water consumption make a significant contribution to our environmental impact. That is why we aim to:
Minimise energy consumption in our restaurants.
Minimise the amount of water in use in our restaurants and ensure the wastewater leaving our restaurants is of a high quality.”
Taken from: - No Author
Accessed on 17/10/2011
This shows that McDonalds have set targets for reducing the energy consumption. Also they believe that customers who come into the restaurant can help reduce the energy consumption by turning the car engine off when idling for long periods in the car park.
McDonalds have set two targets for reducing their energy consumption, which I have stated above and they are trying to succeed and meet the targets that they have set.
The policy that the McDonalds have carried out in practice is successful, as they have met the targets that they have set. The restaurant reduced the energy consumption by providing waterless urinals and these waterless urinals have been installed in 450 McDonald’s restaurants, and are part of the on-going refurbishment program.
The refurbishment program is how the McDonald’s restaurant is redecorated and in different McDonald restaurants the refurbishment is different. For example: the Oxford Street’s McDonald is more modern and as it’s situated in Central London, there are a large number of customers coming to the restaurant, so the restaurant needs to be well refurbished so that customers will be coming in, whereas a McDonald’s restaurant in small towns like Cambridge and Oxford are not well refurbished as it’s a small town and not many customers come to the restaurant.
The two images show that I have shown above supports my example as a McDonald’s restaurant in Oxford Street the Europe’s busiest shopping street, so there are many people that will coming there, so there is a high chance of customers coming into that McDonald’s restaurant. This restaurant is well refurbished and it looks modern, whereas the McDonald’s restaurant in Banbury’s Bridge Street is not refurbished as the restaurant is still painted white outside and blue/grey/brown inside as it was since 2002. This type of restaurant is still like in the olden days, so it wouldn’t be busy like the restaurant in oxford circus.
Also they have cleaner water discharge, which means environmental Biotech drainage systems are being rolled out to suitable restaurants to combat grease and improve the quality of the discharge water. Moreover, McDonalds has sonic alerts and these are fitted on the kitchen grills and the sonic alerts are to remind staff to return them to their standby energy saving position after use. McDonalds uses less energy in all their restaurants and they use low energy lamps and have light level sensors installed to control external lighting. All new lighting systems also have high frequency fittings.
To criticise this, there are 1,190 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK, but only 450 McDonald’s restaurants have been provided the waterless urinals and this shows that the McDonald’s energy policy is not a very good policy and it is not reliable.
Energy Efficiency
Energy Efficiency is the percentage of the total energy input to equipment that is consumed in useful work and not wasted as useless heat.
Equation of Energy Efficiency
Energy Efficiency = (Useful Energy/Energy Input) x 100
Lighting
“Do you use energy saving light bulbs?”
“We are always trying to use more energy efficient lighting where we can, including:
More use of light level sensors to turn lights off
Lower wattage dichroic lamps from Philips which are now standard for replacements
LED lights for signage”
Taken from: - No Author
Accessed on: 17/10/2011
To criticise this, this is a good way of saving energy consumption as McDonalds are using energy saving bulbs to save electricity. Also McDonalds are working with the Carbon Trust to find ways to reduce the energy used in all the restaurants and they are trying to find practical sources of renewable energy that could be employed. McDonalds are putting their targets into practice, one of the energy saving practice that they have done is to fit all burger grills with an alarm that sounds when unused for a set period and this alarm would remind the employees to switch them to standby mode. This is a good way of saving energy, as they are not wasting the energy even if it’s not used. Also McDonalds believe that if they apply this practice over a year, a restaurant can save the equivalent of three times the annual energy use of a three bedroom home. This is good for the organisation as they will get a good reputation for saving the energy consumption and it will be a well-known company by everyone.
A negative point is that energy saving bulbs are expensive than the normal bulbs. I have researched in Homebase about the cost of the energy saving bulbs and the normal bulbs. Homebase is the UK’s leading home enhancement retailer and is recognised for choice, style and customer service across the wider home enhancement market. The energy saving bulb costs £5.99 and a normal bulb costs £4.69 and McDonalds saves £1.30 and this might not be a large amount but they are saving a lot of money throughout the UK as they are using energy saving bulbs in most of their restaurants. The energy saving bulb saves a lot more energy and it is cost effective than the normal bulbs because less money is needed each year.
Transport
McDonald’s uses biodiesel made from cooking oils to help run the delivery fleet and by using biodiesel fuels than the pure diesel fuel, they have been able to emit 9.3% less CO₂ and to realise cost savings by 9.2%. Also due to the combustion of gaseous fuels, the emission of nitric oxides and particles is reduced as well. Also all McDonald’s restaurants in the UK recycle their used cooking oil for conversion to biodiesel, which powers 100 distribution vehicles. This results in a carbon saving of 1,000 tons per annum as well as a significant cost savings.
To criticise this, the use of transport between the restaurants shows that McDonald’s uses energy efficient vehicles than huge Lorries and trucks. This is a good way of saving energy as they are not using huge trucks that produce lots of pollution and waste energy. Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources and it has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. Also it is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar.
Cooking
McDonald’s get their meat such as beef and chicken from the British and Irish farms. McDonald’s famous fries are made from the best quality potatoes, such as Russet Burbank, Shepody and Pentland Dell. The vast majority of these potatoes are grown here in the UK. All the burgers that are provided by McDonald’s are from 100% meat that is supplied by farms that are qualified by nationally recognised farm assurance scheme.
Battery farming is an industrial agricultural confinement system that is used primarily for egg-laying hens. McDonald’s used to get their chicken and other meat from battery farming, but in Britain the animal rights are a prominent public concern, and almost all of the chain’s eggs come from free-range chickens. Using battery hens was a major problem in the UK and as well as other countries like Australia and many people did protests for stop using eggs from caged hens.
As McDonald’s is a fast food restaurant, they sell a lot of junk food and it’s not a healthy restaurant as many young people are getting affected by obesity. There are many things that could happen if you eat junk food such as gaining an extraordinary amount of weight and also people can get congested and end up having stokes. A large of customers around the UK and worldwide come into the restaurant and most of them would be affected by obesity as they are eating too much junk food and this could lead to McDonald’s not getting a good reputation.
On the other hand, as well as selling junk food like beef, they also sell salads and fruits which are healthy. The salads is also part of the 5 a day as it counts 2 portions of it and the fruit bag counts as 1 portion of the 5 a day. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre, which help keep kids healthy and boost their immunity and this shows that McDonald’s are trying to keep their restaurants healthy as possible so that they can get more customers coming in to the restaurant.
Environmental Policy
Packaging
"In 2007, more than 80% of all packaging used by McDonald's UK was made from renewable resources."
Taken from: -
Author - IPL Perseco, McDonald's packaging supplier
Accessed on 17/10/2011
This shows that the policy that McDonalds has carried out in practice is successful because in 2007 they proved than more than 80% of all packaging used by McDonald’s UK was made from renewable resources and they are still trying to reduce the packaging that they use. McDonald’s restaurant have reduced the packaging they use by using less cardboard and the cardboard packaging that they use is made of 72% recycled paper. Also they have replaced the plastic salad containers with a paper card base, which has substantially reduced the amount of plastic that they use as a company. Likewise, many of the other non-food items such as drink carriers, bags and napkins - contain 100% recycled material and in April 2008, the last of the restaurant’s polystyrene packaging was removed from the restaurant replacing their breakfast polystyrene clamshell with a paper card alternative.
To evaluate this, the 80% in 2007 is a large number and it shows that they have been successful with the targets that they have set. Also McDonald’s are trying to reduce the packaging that they use by setting out aims for them so that they can reach out for that.
Waste
“In the same way we specify what goes into our restaurants; we try to control what comes out.” –
Taken from: - No Author
Accessed on 17/10/2011
This shows that McDonald’s restaurant have taken steps in order to control the amount of waste that comes and go out of the restaurant. Also they have taken steps like reducing the size of the bun tray liners by 10cm and as a result, it saves 84 tonnes of paper last year. Also the delivery packaging used for all our buns, muffins, milkshake and sundae mix are returned to suppliers for reuse. This avoids the use of significant amounts of cardboard. The McDonald's restaurants in Sheffield send their waste to energy from waste facility, rather than landfill. The energy produced heats local buildings including Sheffield's impressive town hall.
This demonstrates that it’s good for the society as they are trying to find ways of reducing the amount of waste that is produced so that people in the society wouldn’t get affected as well as the customers that comes in and out of the restaurant. Also recycling and composting is the best way to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste being sent to landfill sites and such waste decomposes on landfill sites, and in the process creates methane gas which is a major contributor to global warming.
Litter
“At McDonald's we were the first to introduce Daily Litter Patrols in all our restaurants. So whatever is dropped, we make sure it’s picked up.”
Taken from: - No Author
Accessed on 17/10/2011
This shows that McDonald’s restaurant are trying in every way that is possible to save the amount of waste that comes and go out of the restaurant. McDonald’s commitment is to tackle litter in as many different ways as we can. As well as daily litter patrols, they also hold regular big tidy litter events, together with the keep Britain tidy groups across the country.
The packaging carried by McDonalds always carries an anti-littering symbol to actively encourage their customers to dispose of their litter responsibly.
Also to save the amount of litter going out of the restaurant, they provide litter bins outside all their restaurants and they are one of the biggest sponsors of council provided litter bins in the UK.
Conclusion
I have researched about four organisations that uses energy policies and I chose one of these organisations which is McDonalds and I have researched this in detail and I have pointed out the positive and negative points of the energy policy that McDonalds uses. By doing this research, I have found out that it’s good and motivating for the employees that are part of McDonalds that some companies are making energy policies as they are setting targets to improve the company. This shows that the company will get a good reputation and it will be a well-known company by everyone as its meeting its intentions and it’s trying to find out ways to develop the company. In order to develop, the companies can still do more about the energy policies. For example: McDonalds can improve their energy policy by providing the waterless urinals in all their restaurants in the UK, rather than only providing the waterless urinals to 450 restaurants.
by
east-enders1 (student)
