King’s Cross gives green light to biogas switch

London’s King’s Cross estate, a 67-acre development of offices, homes, restaurants and retail outlets adjacent to the railway terminus, is switching to green gas to reduce its carbon footprint.

The move means 2,000 residential properties and four million square feet of commercial buildings will use biogas supplied by environmental investor Iona Capital.

The firm runs a number of anaerobic digestion facilities, where food and animal waste is processed to produce clean gas for normal use in homes, offices and other premises.

Forecasts say the switch to green gas will enable the King’s Cross estate to reduce its predicted annual carbon footprint of 31,000 tonnes by 50%, saving around and 16,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum from being released into the atmosphere.

Firms such as Google, YouTube, Havas, PRS for Music, Camden Council, The Office Group, ArtFund and Universal Music employ 20,000 people in the area. Facebook is moving into 600,000 square feet of commercial space across three buildings on the estate from 2021.

Claudine Blamey, head of sustainability for King’s Cross, said: “This is an exciting and significant step for King’s Cross and its journey to zero carbon. We are proud that we’re now able to serve our customers with green energy while keeping energy tariffs the same.

“We know that the UK faces a significant challenge in providing heating for homes and businesses while also being able to deliver on its commitments to decarbonise, and we hope this will encourage more investment in the green gas sector.”