Main U.K. office sector’s energy wastage is equivalent to annual carbon emissions of 82,000 cars

Green Alliance, the U.K. environmental think tank, has said that wasted energy use in five of the United Kingdom’s main office sector locations is generating the same level of annual carbon emissions as that of 82,000 cars.

Unused energy in office buildings in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and the City of London is also costing businesses over £60 million (€71 million; $tk million) a year in unnecessary energy bills and could power more than 100,000 homes in the United Kingdom. In a report, the think tank has said that most of the United Kingdom’s commercial buildings are energy inefficient and that, overall, energy consumption per square metre has flatlined since 2002.

Despite the waste, Green Alliance has said that there have only been “limited efforts” put in place to address the problem.

Better use of digital technology is one “obvious solution,” according to the report, which says that smart sensors and algorithms can track and modul