Retail giant Tesco has set itself an ambitious target of becoming zero-carbon by 2050. To help meet this target, Tesco installed touchscreen energy boards in retail stores. This was done only after the successful implementation of a test program across nine stores.

The total energy consumption dropped by two to three percent after the test run at the nine stores where the test took place. Tesco described the cut in energy costs as "a huge margin" for one piece of equipment.

The energy boards are to be installed in 500 locations across the U.K. and will be placed in the staff areas of each store in an effort to determine which sections are consuming the most energy. The monitor boards will display the parts of the store that are using the most energy. By identifying this, the staff will be in a position to gauge the areas using the most power, enabling it to take appropriate measures to ensure that those areas consume less power. Thus, they can reduce the carbon footprint.

Company officials said that the new energy display screens will have the potential to prevent the release of an additional 23,000 tons of CO2.

Energy display screens installed in Tesco’s Portsmouth store showed clearly that its petrol station was consuming the most energy. Staff at the store went into action and reduced consumption by reducing the lighting during the day. Interestingly, the total energy consumption dropped by two to thee percent.

Officials at Tesco described the whole exercise as an effort not only to get employees involved, but also help further reduce the stores' carbon footprint. Reams of paper data that would normally be required to detail the store's energy consumption would no longer be required.

Richard Lee, head of Energy at Tesco, said: "This is an exciting development in Tesco’s long term plans to reduce the carbon footprint of its stores by 2020. The energy boards also present a visual snapshot of the data, which is far more meaningful that reams of paper based data and empowers people to actively promote energy saving."

This is the first time such technology has been used in a supermarket to cut carbon emissions and Tesco has won an international award on the back of it. In a related news release, Tesco won the 'Energy Efficiency Program of the Year – Commercial End-User' award at the Platts Global Energy Awards in New York because of its use of the touch screen monitors.

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