The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, previously known as Renewable Energy Association (REA), is a renewable energy and clean technology trade association in the UK encompassing all of renewables industry in the United Kingdom. REA covers renewable power & flexibility, heat and cooling, circular bioresources and transport. The REA is a not-for-profit company.

History

The Renewable Power Association was established in 2001 as a not-for-profit

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...

, representing British renewable energy producers and promoting the use of

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

in the UK. The company changed its name in November 2005 to ''Renewable Energy Association''. Renewable Energy Association was merged with the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR) in September 2012, the latter becoming the "Organics Recycling Group" under REA. The Company name was officially changed again to ''The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology'' in October 2019.

Activities

Lobbying and Regulation

All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Energy Storage, for which the REA was the secretariat between its founding in July 2015 and its last registration in November 2019. All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Electric Vehicles, for which the REA is the secretariat since November 2017. The campaign for net-zero aviation in the UK, led by the Jet Zero Council, which is a partnership between industry and the UK Government with the aim of delivering zero-emission transatlantic flight within a generation. Dr Nina Skorupska

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

is a member of this council in her capacity as the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the REA. REA has reported significant reduction in greenhouse gases can be obtained by use of biofuels rather than

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...

Government Criticism

REA has been critical of the UK Governments' lack of funding for the production of electricity from organic waste, a failure to define policies to meet the European-wide energy targets, reductions to the

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, ...

and the lack of a robust framework for renewables. REA supported the environmental audit committee in calling for the government to cut VAT on repairs fort electrical goods and green home improvements. On 21 September 2021 REA published its report ''Energy Transition Readiness Index 2021'' and warned that urgent action was needed make the UK

Electricity grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

more flexible to cate for more variable types of energy coming online, one of the points raised that as

electricity storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an Accumulator (energy), accumulator or Batte ...

facilities were treated as generators and charge both for transmission of electricity to and from the storage over the grid which was a disincentive for investment in the technology.

Safety

The REA provides guidance on health and safety at operational sites. During the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the REA aimed to support its members and others by making the

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aware of the impact of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions on industry, networking between members to dispose of additional food and drinks waste caused by the closure of restaurants, and providing details to members of financial support available.

Standards

The British Standard’s Institute (BSI)

Publicly Available Specification A Publicly Available Specification or PAS is a standardization document that closely resembles a formal standard in structure and format but which has a different development model. The objective of a Publicly Available Specification is to speed up ...

s (PAS) 100 & 110, concerning compost quality and

anaerobic digestate Digestate is the material remaining after the anaerobic digestion (decomposition under low oxygen conditions) of a biodegradable feedstock. Anaerobic digestion produces two main products: digestate and biogas. Digestate is produced both by acid ...

quality. REA, through its subsidiary, launched the UK's first Electric Vehicle Consumer Code (EVCC) in 2020, a voluntary scheme for domestic charge point installers.

Conventions

Green Gas Day, which is the UK’s largest green gas industry gathering, organised in collaboration with CNG Services Ltd, and hosted since 2012 at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, UK.

Biofuels

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 are one area within REA's scope and some elements have proved controversial. In 2014 REA was criticised for encouraging reliance on large non renewable energy company members including the operators of Drax power station and Eggborough power station and lobbying to expand the use of food crops as

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 including

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

and soya.

References

External links

Official website

Sources

* {{Authority control Trade associations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2001 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom Renewable energy in the United Kingdom Biofuel in the United Kingdom Renewable energy organizations London Borough of Lambeth