| Parameter |
Tool/mechanism |
Examples |
| How Much Renewable Energy to produce and how to sell it |
| Compliance |
 | Government targets |
|
| Targets for renewables, CHP GHG reductions |
|
| EU and Danish quantified targets for renewables and CHP at national level |
|
| |
|
| Quotas for individual companies |
|
| Company production capacity targets for renewables being considered in UK. Supply
capacity, with sale of excess production or buying additional requirements (as in
Netherlands) also being considered. |
| In the Netherlands Utilities entered a negotiated agreement on supply capacity with the
Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1997 to supply 1.7 thousand million kWh of green
electricity by 2000. This is translated into a quota for individual companies equivalent
to 3.2% of their 1995 total supply. If they are unable to produce this themselves they
must by green certificates on the market or pay a penalty of DFL 0.50 per kWh (ie more
than 600%) above the going market rate. In addition an ecotax of DFL 0.05/kWh on all
conventionally produced energy makes renewable . |
|
| |
| Fiscal mechanisms to support compliance |
|
| Tradeable permits |
|
| Under the Dutch Green Label (Groenlabel) scheme bundles of 10,000 kWh produced from
renewable sources obtain a label which confirms that that amount of energy was supplied to
the national grid in a particular month. which is discrete from the electrical energy. The
producer sells the electricity to the local utility which is forced, by law, to accept all
electricity against a standard remittance fee. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Technological possibilities |
| Funding for private R&D |
|
| Grants |
|
| Funding for small scale embedded PV in various countries |
|
| |
|
| Tax breaks |
|
| Tax breaks for investment in renewables, various |
|
| |
|
| Price premiums |
|
| Eco funds for green electricity eg Eastern Electricity in UK, 5-10% premium on bill
matched by utility up to £1mn over 2 years to support wind, wave & solar research |
|
| |
| Government research |
|
| Research programmes and councils |
|
| Various |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Availability of investment funds |
| Fiscal measures |
|
| Subsidies, grants etc |
|
| Government subsidies for renewables investment eg California Energy Commission |
|
| |
|
| Tax breaks for investors |
|
| Dutch tax free investment scheme for renewables, Rabbobank |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Shareholder attitude (to capital investment and higher operating costs) |
| Information, education and advice |
|
| Reporting |
|
| Sustainability indicators in annual reports eg Green electricity share of total mix;
performance against government targets |
|
| |
|
| Environmental Rating |
|
| In the UK the FOE’s Green Energy League Table rates and ranks all utilities for
greenness based on existence of a renewables tariff, environmental policies and reporting |
|
| Price of buying in |
| Fiscal measures |
|
| Renewables ‘buy down’ programmes |
|
| Guaranteed prices for supply to the grid eg NFFO in UK and in many other EU member
states |
|
| How to sell it? |
|
|
|
| Compliance |
| Targets |
|
|
|
| |
| Regulations |
|
| Purchasing policy of government or grid |
|
| Requirement for grid to purchase all renewables, Netherlands |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Availability of infrastructure |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| Customer awareness |
| Green marketing |
|
| Reporting on overall energy mix for company or particular product |
|
| Power Content label operated by the California Energy Commission. a ‘nutrition
label’ which shows the mix and emissions for each energy product compared to the
average California Power Mix (based on 1995). This information is sent to each customer
with their bill and prior to Green-e was seen as a means for green companies to highlight
greener credentials. |
|
| |
|
| Certification of green products |
|
| Green-e label in the US and Renewable Energy Accreditation Scheme in the UK |
| Energy Company contributions to NGO campaigns (eg Cumbria electricity in UK) |
|
| |
| Advice |
|
| Point of sale and bill advice |
|
| NGO run energy efficiency campaigns (Council for Sustainable Energy in Denmark) |
| Itemised billing providing details of climate impacts of energy supply for green tariff
customers. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Cost |
| Fiscal measures |
|
| Subsidies to customers |
|
| California Energy Commission provide a customer credit of 1.5 cent/kWh on a declining
basis to support higher priced renewable prices up to a total of $81 mn of the
state’s overall $540 mn renewables support programme. |
|
| |
|
| Renewables tariffs for customers |
|
| More than 10 UK and 13 US companies operate a 5-10% premium tariff on standard charges
for environmentally aware customers who wish to purchase renewables. |
|
| |
|
| Green points schemes |
|
| Green electricity customers gain green points that they can choose to allocate to local
projects with NGOs, Schools etc which might include energy audits, embedded PV generation,
educational resources, green appliances etc |
| OR to be redeemed against ‘green’ products from green producers or for energy
efficient household appliances. |
|
| |
|
| EcoMortgages |
|
| Links between utilities and mortgage companies to provide EcoMortgages for energy
efficient homes. Would be enhanced by energy company financed energy efficiency measures |
|
| Consumer Awareness |
| Education and general awareness raising |
|
| Energy audits for house sellers |
| publicity gifts |
|
| Danish regulations requiring sellers of houses to undertake energy audits and show
energy certificates detailing efficiency measures which have been undertaken to the buyer. |
| Free energy efficient light bulbs for renewables tariff customers. |
|