A green certificate are a tradable commodity proving that certain electricity is generated using renewable energy sources. Typically one certificate represents the generation of one Megawatthour of electricity. What is defined as "renewable" varies from certificate trading scheme to trading scheme. Usually, at least the following sources are considered as renewable:
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Wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
(often further divided into onshore and offshore)
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Solar (often further divided into photovoltaic and thermal)
* Wave (often further divided into onshore and offshore) and
tidal
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* Tidal (servic ...
(often further divided into onshore and offshore)
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Geothermal
* Hydro (often further divided into small –
microhydro – and large)
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Biomass
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...
(mainly
biofuel
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
s, often further divided by actual fuel used).
Green certificates represent the environmental value of renewable energy generated. The certificates can be traded separately from the energy produced.
Several countries use green certificates as a means to make the support of green electricity generation closer to a market economy instead of more bureaucratic investment support and feed-in tariffs. Such national trading schemes are in use in e.g. Poland, Sweden, the UK, Italy, Belgium (Wallonia and Flanders), and some US states.
Once in the grid, renewable energy is impossible to separate from the conventionally generated energy. This makes purchasing of a green certificate equal to purchasing a claim, that the certificate owner consumed energy from the renewable portion of the whole energy in the grid. Therefore certificate purchase does not affect how much renewable energy was actually generated – only how it was distributed.
In contrast to
CO2e-Reduction certificates, e.g.
AAU's or
CER's under the
UNFCC
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...
, which can be exchanged worldwide, Green Certificates cannot be exchanged/traded between e.g. Belgium and Italy, let alone the USA and the EU member States.
See also
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EKOenergy
EKOenergy is an ecolabel for electricity. It is a not-for-profit initiative of the EKOenergy Network, a group of more than 40 environmental organizations from 30 countries. EKOenergy started in 2013 in Europe. Its secretariat is based in Helsinki. ...
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Energy economics
Energy economics is a broad scientific subject area which includes topics related to supply and use of energy in societies. Considering the cost of energy services and associated value gives economic meaning to the efficiency at which energy c ...
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Energy accounting Energy accounting is a system used to measure, analyze and report the energy consumption of different activities on a regular basis. This is done to improve energy efficiency, and to monitor the environment impact of energy consumption.
Energy man ...
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Emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...
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Feed-in tariff
A feed-in tariff (FIT, FiT, standard offer contract,Couture, T., Cory, K., Kreycik, C., Williams, E., (2010)Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy advanced renewable tariff, ...
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Green energy
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenho ...
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Green tags Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green tags, Renewable Energy Credits, Renewable Electricity Certificates, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are tradable, non-tangible energy certificates in the United States that repres ...
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Guarantee of origin
A Guarantee of Origin (GO or GoO) is an energy certificate defined in article 15 of the European Directive 2009/28/EC. A GO labels electricity from renewable sources to provide information to electricity customers on the source of their energy. Gu ...
External links
The Green Certificate Company – green business certification siteGreen Business Bureau – green business certification site(
EERE
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy. Formed from other energy agencies after the 1973 energy crisis, EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency an ...
).
Green Business League – green business certification siteGreen Power Network's RECs page(
EERE
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy. Formed from other energy agencies after the 1973 energy crisis, EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency an ...
).
Green Standard Certificate Scheme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Certificate
Environmental economics
Renewable energy certification
Government documents
nl:Garanties van oorsprong