Energy

WPP's energy bill is a small fraction of our operating costs, but accounts for most of our carbon emissions. Energy use in our offices accounted for over 50% of our total carbon footprint in 2011 - at about 142,400 tonnes of CO₂. In a climate change context, energy becomes the biggest piece of the puzzle.

Our strategy is to reduce carbon emissions from our energy use by:

• Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings and IT;
• Purchasing renewable electricity where available.

Quick wins:
There are measures that IT, procurement and real estate managers across the Group are implementing to bring energy savings at no or little capital cost. These measures range from simple actions such as ensuring that lights are switched off, to more complex measures like targeting high-energy-use areas in the office. In order to track progress, a climate checklist is distributed to all WPP offices worldwide.

Better information and feedback:
We aim to empower our operating companies with better information and tools for managing their energy use. For instance, we operate advanced energy metering at key WPP locations, accounting for around 25% of our total floor space. These meters provide detailed monthly energy-use reports which allow our operating companies to spot inefficiencies and improve their performance.

Buildings:
We are integrating energy efficiency and other environmental considerations into our property acquisition and capital expenditure processes so that where possible any property we lease purchase, fit out or renovate meets advanced standards such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM).

IT equipment:
We have requirements in place to improve the energy efficiency of our IT equipment. This means that only approved devices can be purchased, they must comply with our energy consumption standards, and power management features must be enabled. We aim to reduce the energy consumption of key IT applications by up to 40%. To achieve this, we are looking at new ways of sourcing out IT needs, as well as implementing server, storage and network virtualisation solutions to reduce the number of devices in use. Our managed print program, which includes reducing the number of printers in use, is helping us to reduce energy used for printing by up to 30% in each location.

Renewable electricity:
We purchase renewable electricity where we can and regularly review electricity sourcing across all markets to identify new opportunities. We estimate that around 16% of the total electricity we purchase is generated from renewable sources. Green electricity contracts are usually for a fixed period and may not be available at competitive prices in the future. However, it is our intention to increase the percentage of electricity purchased from renewable sources to 20% by 2015. To encourage our operating companies to switch to green electricity contracts, we have established preferred suppliers in all our major markets.

For a full summary of our progress in these areas, read our latest Sustainability Report. The tables below provide key performance data on our energy use since 2007:


WPP's energy use (megawatt hours)

	2009	2010	2011	2012
Direct energy use (natural gas and heating oil)	31,090	46,244	45,090	45,745
Indirect energy use (purchased electricity)	309,558	303,456	307,245	323,582
Total energy use	340,647	349,700	352,335	369,327
Energy use per person	3.45	3.36	3.10	3.19
% of electricity from renewable sources	16%	16%	16%	16%

WPP's carbon emissions from energy use*

	2009	2010	2011	2012
Tonnes of CO2	139,433	135,992	140,110	150,298
Tonnes of CO2  per person	1.34	1.21	1.15	1.21

*figures shown above are based on rating renewable energy purchased as zero carbon.