Abstract
Green electricity quality labels have been utilised in the European Union since 1990. Of the seventeen European countries analysed here1, at the time of writing nine had no countryspecific quality label, although all electricity tariffs within Europe were able to apply for accreditation under the EUGENE labelling scheme. Germany had several quality labels, each with slightly different criteria. All of the eighteen labels identified in the report applied to electricity from renewable sources. Of these, seven also allowed co-generation to be a part of the fuel mix and one had a requirement for eligible companies to fulfil some demand side management activities. No existing labelling scheme set an overall requirement for CO2 emissions, although some did set emissions limits for co-generation components. Seven labels required some contribution from new renewable energy plant2. Only three of the labels did not allow publicly funded plant to contribute to a labelled green tariff. A review of labels clearly indicates that: · there are several schemes with varying levels of “greenness”, operating in some countries, which may be confusing for customers; · very few labels are clearly requiring some additionality for the products. It is therefore recommended that the European Union and member states continue to use other support mechanisms to increase the generation of electricity from renewable sources.
Original language | English |
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Place of Publication | Chineham, UK |
Publisher | IT Power |
Number of pages | 35 |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |