Checking green technology myths: key facts you need to know

Green technologies are essential for achieving the UK government’s net zero targets, and businesses are reliant upon green tech to save energy, cut carbon, and lower their bills.  

A key barrier in the market today is a lack of understanding surrounding the function and application of green technologies, and there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding their efficacy, particularly since a lot of green tech is considered nascent.  
 
This has led to an abundance of misinformation in the green technologies market. You will have heard stories and rumours covering everything from renewable energy to EVs, and it’s difficult to separate the facts from the myth.  
 
We spoke to some of our leading green technology providers to address some of the common green technology myths prevalent in the market today which may be discouraging people from pursuing climate and energy-friendly solutions. Here’s what they had to say.

Solar panels don’t work in countries without constant sunshine

“A common misconception is that solar panels need constant sunshine to generate power,” says Gary Brandwood, Managing Director at Perfect Sense Energy. “In reality, solar PV systems work 365 days per year and produce energy even on cloudy days.”  
 
Solar panels generate electricity from daylight (irradiance) rather than direct sunlight. While the power produced is greater when that irradiance is of higher intensity on brighter days, cloud cover doesn’t prevent photons from the sun and irradiance from hitting your solar panels.  
 
“Countries like Germany, with a similar climate to the UK, have seen massive success with solar energy”, Gary adds, “and with over 1.5 million Solar PV systems installed in the UK to date, there is plenty of data to prove that they work.”  
 
In 2023, UK solar panels generated 15,225 gigawatt hours of electricity, equating to 3 per cent of the UK’s overall energy mix. 

The cost of EV charging at home is pricier than filling up with petrol

“The cost of charging at home is actually cheaper than filling up with petrol,” says Ben Duckworth., Commercial Director at Greenarc. “Charging at home overnight is usually the cheapest way to charge your EV, and there are specific electric car tariffs available which offer you competitive rates to charge at home.”  
 
In general, chargepoint types will impact price as well. Home chargers can use slower charging systems, which workout much cheaper, whereas large scale fast charging points in cities and motorway services will cost more.  
 
According to data from Octopus Energy, refilling a petrol or diesel car costs on average 19 – 21 pence per mile, while recharging your car at home can cost as little as 3 pence per mile at home, 14 pence per mile using lamppost charging, and 18 pence per mile for the most expensive rapid public charging.  
 
“There are also ways you can subsidise the cost of charging at home,” says Ben. “For example, some people take advantage of schemes where they can rent out their home parking space while they’re away for use by passing EV drivers. This will help manage your home charging bill and support other drivers.”

Heat pumps don’t work if it’s cold

According to a survey from Electrify Research, 35 per cent of adults across the UK, Germany, France, and the US believe air-source heat pumps don’t work in cold climates.  
 
"Air-to-water heat pumps will work in temperatures as low as -25 degrees Celsius," explains Emma Coleman, Office Manager at Solarus. "However, it is understandable that the cold temperature myth has become rife, since heat pumps work by absorbing heat from the outside air to raise the temperature of water which is pumped through radiators inside a building.  
 
It’s important to analyse the range of temperatures to understand the efficacy of a heat pump. Independent research carried out by the Energy Systems Catapult analysed the performance of 750 heat pumps on some of the UK’s coldest days over two years, with temperature lows of -6 degrees Celsius.  
 
The findings: the average coefficient of performance for an air-source heat pump is 2.9, on the coldest days of the year in the UK this fell to 2.44. This means the difference in their performance on the coldest days is marginal in difference, and they need to work harder to achieve the same indoor temperature. In short, they absolutely work in cold weather. 

You can solve climate issues by simply planting more trees

I’m sure you’ve encountered corporate sustainability commitments with pledges along the lines of “we will plant one tree for each product sold.” While the sentiment is commendable and the benefits of tree planting are clear (the National Trust states that one tree could remove one tonne of carbon dioxide from the air over its lifetime) sustainability policies which rely on this alone are at high risk of greenwashing, and tree planting won’t counteract climate damaging industrial processes and reliance on environmentally destructive techniques, such as fossil fuel mining.  
 
Firstly, there is the issue of the scale of tree planting commitments. Analysis from the Financial Times uncovered that governments alone have pledged to plant 633 million hectares of trees, an area larger than the entire Amazon rainforest.  
 
“A significant portion of trees pledged by organisations are being done to offset emissions, meaning they are doing nothing to halt environmentally damaging practices and are instead a greenwashing tool distracting the public from the far more pressing problems going on behind the trees,” explains Piyush Singh, Sustainability & Net Zero Consultant at Green Economy.  
 
“It is recommended that carbon offsetting should account for no more than 10 per cent of an organisations environmental policy, and be used as a last resort rather than a key part of a strategy,” Piyush adds.

The electricity grid can’t handle renewable energy projects 

The UK grid was designed for a centralised energy system. With a growing number of decentralised renewable energy and green technology projects hoping to plug in, there are indeed concerns regarding the UK grid’s capacity to take these new projects on. 
 
However, with the right infrastructure upgrades and investment into grid expansion and energy storage solutions, the UK grid can handle the expansion of renewable energy.   
 
Firstly, the transition to renewable energy and green technologies such as EVs will happen gradually, not instantaneously. This will give grid operators time to prepare for an eventual full transition and manage capacity demands incrementally.  
 
While this allows for the evening out of grid demand, it has created issues in terms of long wait times for connection and renewable energy project delays. As of October 2024, the UK’s renewable energy sector reported to be handling a bottleneck of over 1,100 renewable energy projects, equalling a pipeline of 176 GW.  
 
“To resolve these issues, the grid needs significant infrastructure investments and upgrades,” says Alasdair Dalzel-Job, Technical Lead at Green Economy. “Firstly, grid infrastructure needs to be spread more evenly across the country, particularly in rural areas where you’re more likely to find large-scale renewable energy projects such as wind farms. New transmission lines and grid technologies situated closer to these sites would help improve the UK’s capacity.”  
 
“Next, energy storage is a vital tool for managing oversupply and balancing energy. With advanced energy storage solutions, excess power from renewable energy sites can be stored for longer periods of time and tapped into during periods of high demand or low generation. This will prevent energy from being pumped into the grid above capacity, or being wasted altogether.”