ASA Adjudication on Your Energy Ltd

Ad

A leaflet, for a proposed wind farm, included a list of bullet points headlined "West Hinkley Wind Farm - Key Facts". One of the bullet points claimed "Displacing around 41,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from entering the atmosphere". The claim was linked to footnote text that stated "Based on the current UK generating capacity mix, this will vary over time as plant is replaced".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claim "Displacing around 41,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from entering the atmosphere" was misleading and could be substantiated.

CAP Code

Response

Your Energy sent their Environmental Statement, which used the emissions factor of 860 kg/kWh recommended by the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) to calculate how much CO2 would be displaced by their nine-turbine wind farm each year. They acknowledged that the BWEA calculations were based on current generation mix and that they assumed wind power typically displaced energy generated by coal-fired power stations. They referred to a previous ASA adjudication that had assessed emissions displacement and had required that advertisers who used the 860 kg/kWh figure to qualify emissions claims in order to make clear that the future fuel generating mix of the UK was uncertain. They explained that they had inserted the footnote text "Based on the current UK generating capacity mix, this will vary over time as plant is replaced" to make that clear.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the previous adjudication that Your Energy had referred to acknowledged that it was reasonable to use an emissions factor of 860 kg CO2/kWh to calculate the reduction of CO2 emissions at the present time but that was not a reasonable figure to use for calculating the reduction over the operational lifetime of a wind power station unless there was some qualification to indicate the uncertainties about future fuel generating mix. We noted that adjudication was based on expert advice that stated future fuel generating mix could include types of power station that emitted very little CO2 and that the levels of CO2 displaced by wind power might consequently be significantly lower. We noted the leaflet contained footnote text that stated "Based on the current UK generating capacity mix, this will vary over time as plant is replaced" and welcomed Your Energy's efforts to make clear the limits to which the claim "Displacing around 41,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from entering the atmosphere" might be subject, but considered that could misleadingly imply that the amount of CO2 displaced might increase or decrease, when we understood it was likely only to decrease over time. We considered that the claim "Displacing around 41,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from entering the atmosphere" implied that the wind farm would displace a comparable amount each year it was operational. Because that was unlikely to be the case, we considered that the footnote contradicted the main claim "Displacing around 41,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from entering the atmosphere" and that the claim was therefore misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ASA told Your Energy to amend the claim and advised that they seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)