David Hogg from Horizon Imaging has always been passionate about caring for the environment. Last September Horizon Imaging started offsetting all carbon emissions from our car when travelling to and from our customers’ sites, from the gas and electricity used in our office, and from all non-recycleable waste sent to landfill (see our blog post here). Now we have gone not one – but two steps further.
Step 1 – A few weeks ago David had a 3.84kW solar PV system installed at his home (which also serves as Horizon Imaging’s office and maintenance workshop), meaning the vast majority of electricity consumed during office hours is now coming directly from solar power, including all computer work, drone battery charging, and office lighting. Even on overcast days the solar panels generate several hundred Watts of power which is easily sufficient to power our office and workshop from sunrise to sunset.
Horizon Imaging’s office and workshop are now powered by solar panels during daylight hours
Horizon Imaging’s main work vehicle is now a 100% electric car which is charged directly from our solar panels when possible (and through a renewable energy supplier at other times)
Step 2 – Last week David collected a new car which is 100% powered by electricity. With a range of about 90 miles (and significantly more when using motorway rapid charge facilities), this vehicle will be suitable for over 90% of our photography shoots (the remaining shoots will be undertaken in our 85mpg diesel car). And it gets better. When based at home, the car will be part-charged using electricity generated by our solar panels (during daylight hours), reducing the amount of power drawn from the grid to charge it. Any excess power drawn from the grid comes from a renewable energy supplier too, further reducing our carbon footprint.
If climate change is to be tackled quickly and effectively, it has to start with us – the public. There’s no point waiting for the world governments to do their bit if we continue to use more energy and fuel than we need to ourselves. So, even if it’s something as simple as driving more economically, we can all do our bit to help lower the world’s carbon footprint. Yes, individually the difference can seem imperceptibly, even pointlessly small, but if millions of people do their bit, it will make a huge difference