Carbon Tracer

Please note that this application can only display energy generation data for parts of the East and West Midlands, South Wales and the South West that are supplied by Western Power Distribution.

Visit our site at carbontracer.westernpower.co.uk to find out if you're in our area.

The Carbon Tracer is a joint project between Western Power Distribution and the Carbon Trust, built by Enigma Interactive.

We wanted to create an application that uses real, live data to calculate what actually contributes to the locally generated energy that powers the electric items in your home.

The electricity that flows through our cables to reach the homes, offices (and other premises) of our customers comes from quite a wide range of sources. These sources of generation may be local to a given area or may flow in from much more distant sources through the National Grid’s high voltage transmission network. Some generation sources can be classed as renewable while others are non-renewable or nuclear. As the various forms of generation work, they create quite different amounts of carbon dioxide gas.

The local generation which is attached to the Western Power Distribution network typically includes large solar PV installations, wind farms and various incineration generators some of which are renewable forms of energy (for example biomass), while others are not. There are many other generation types including less common forms such as tidal and wave power and even newer forms such as battery storage.

When local generation is insufficient to meet demand at any given time and location, the shortfall is made up by taking electricity from the National Grid. Changes to prevailing conditions and what people are doing throughout the day and throughout the year means that the demand for electricity from customers is constantly changing. The available generation also changes all the time so that the overall mix is in a constant state of change. This is shown by the Carbon Tracer.

If you would like to know more about how we generate the information in this app, or how electricity gets from a solar farm to your house, take a look at our FAQs at carbontracer.westernpower.co.uk/faqs