Signing up for so-called ‘green electricity’ doesn’t guarantee a cut in emissions. So what are the best clean energy options out there?
More electricity users are signing up to green energy tariffs every year, says UK electricity regulator Ofgem. But the truth is that if everyone on the national grid changed to a green tariff tomorrow, we wouldn’t have created any more green energy collectively. This, plus the growing uncertainty surrounding the role of renewables in the future UK energy mix, means it’s time for companies to start questioning the validity of their green tariffs.
In the UK, renewable energy generates Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) that are sold on the market to electricity companies. By law, they have to buy a minimum 7.9% renewables into their energy mix in the year 2007/8. This figure will gradually increase to 15.4% by 2027, according to government targets.
At the moment, there aren’t even enough ROCs to go around the energy companies to satisfy these targets, says Ofgem. Companies could only buy 66% of the total ROCs needed to satisfy the 2006/7 target, down from 76% in 2005/6. The cost of the remaining deficit of green energy is paid into a buy-out fund, which is distributed to ROC providers for future investment.
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