Green electricity

Wind turbines

Hydroelectric power plant

Biogas storage

Photovoltaic system

The term green electricity is usually used to describe electricity supply contracts with which a direct flow of money is established between the buyer and supplier of electrical energy from environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources . This is done in contrast to conventionally generated electricity from nuclear energy and fossil fuels, such as mainly coal , oil and natural gas . Synonymous terms are green electricity and natural electricity . The main benefit of a green electricity tariff is not the direct reduction in CO ₂ emissions, but the promotion of investments in regenerative technology.

Definitions

“Green electricity” is not a protected term and not a quality term in the sense of a generally accepted catalog of criteria. Different interpretations are in use:

In Austria , the Green Electricity Act defines that all electricity generated from renewable energy sources is considered green electricity. In the case of pumped storage power plants , this only applies to the use of the natural inflow, not to water that is pumped up.

In Germany there is no binding definition.

The Federal Association for Renewable Energy allows the designation “green electricity” due to the loose language rule for everything that comes from at least half of renewable energies such as wind energy , bioenergy , solar energy , hydro energy and geothermal energy . In this case, the other half must come from combined heat and power plants . It is argued that these should be promoted as an interim solution in order to accelerate the phase-out from fossil and nuclear power generation.

Environmental protection organizations sometimes exclude large-scale hydropower from the concept of green electricity. You criticize z. B. Mammoth projects like the Three Gorges Dam in China are considered unecological .

Certification

Certificates (also known as seals of approval or labels) are intended to confirm the ecological production of an electricity supply and often go beyond the minimum requirements for green electricity. Depending on whether the generation or consumption of electricity is to be certified, a distinction is made between two types of certification:

the production certification and
the green electricity product certification

Generation certification

Green electricity label on the door of a Deutsche Bahn ICE

The generation certification always relates to generation sources and guarantees the consumer that the energy comes from renewable sources. This type of certification is typically used at the commercial level; Customers are mostly suppliers of green electricity products.

The most important generation certifications are TÜV SÜD Generation EE and naturemade star . The Renewable Energy Certificate System (RECS), which proves the generation of green electricity without any further requirements, is more widespread . RECS certificates are actively traded across Europe.

TÜV SÜD Generation EE

Quality mark for electricity from 100% renewable energy sources. The following criteria must be met:

Quality:

Production of electricity exclusively from renewable energy sources
Legal compliance
Certification of the net amount of electricity in all energy systems
There is a declaration of origin with precise information on the power plants
There is an energy balance for the electricity produced and sold on
Commitment to a sustainable corporate policy

Ecological criteria:

Compliance with the nationally applicable regulations

Optional requirements:

Generation EE +: Assurance of work and performance commitments
Generation RE new: New system criteria for hydropower systems

Generation EE +: The certification of the module “Generation EE +” (assurance of work and performance commitments) can normally only be carried out for one system pool. With the certified system pool, the certificate holder is able to assure the deliverer that the requested schedule (load profile) can be produced with the system pool at any time. Compliance with the "Generation EE +" module is particularly suitable for the supply of green electricity products that are certified according to the TÜV SÜD electricity product standard "EE02" (certification of electricity products from renewable energies with simultaneous delivery).

Generation EEneu: The certification of the module “Generation EEneu” (criteria for new systems for hydropower systems ) is possible, provided that the system to be certified is a newly developed hydropower potential; or a comprehensive system overhaul or replacement has been carried out; or a capacity increase with an annual increase in production was carried out. With the certification of the system, the certificate holder has proof that his system is a new system within the meaning of the TÜV SÜD standard that was commissioned no more than 36 months ago. The certification of the "Generation EEneu" module is particularly suitable for the delivery of green electricity products that are certified according to the TÜV SÜD electricity product standard "EE01".

Naturemade star

naturemade is the quality mark developed in Switzerland for electricity from 100% renewable energy sources. The following basic criteria must be met:

Quality:

Production of electricity exclusively from renewable energy sources
Legal compliance
Certification of the net amount of electricity in all energy systems
There is a declaration of origin with precise information on the power plants
There is an energy balance for the electricity produced and sold on
no use of genetically modified material

Ecological improvements:

Introduction of an environmental management system for larger companies

Other criteria:

VUE membership
Commitment to a sustainable corporate policy

In addition, it guarantees compliance with additional strict and comprehensive ecological requirements and distinguishes electricity that is produced in a particularly environmentally friendly manner. This is achieved through the following measures:

Assessment of sustainability on a global level
Assessment of sustainability at the local-regional level

It is almost exclusively found in Switzerland.

Green electricity product certification

In a liberal energy market , every consumer is free to decide which provider he gets his electricity from. If he decides to use green electricity, he can use a corresponding offer from green electricity providers or corresponding electricity tariffs. Here, the provider undertakes to feed as much green electricity into the power grid as his customers take. Because all consumers draw electricity from the same network and electricity is always physically the same, the use of green electricity has no direct effect on the electricity supplied to the individual customer. Instead, the payment flows on the energy market and possibly the country's electricity mix will be changed. The signaling effect of energy policy is also considered important; it could influence political decisions for important funding measures such as the EEG.

In order to be able to sell an electricity product as "green electricity", the electricity provider has several options (which can also be combined):

Produce green electricity
buy by delivery contract
acquire tradable generation certificates.

In the last two cases in particular, green electricity is initially only assigned to the consumer on paper and thus withdrawn from general electricity customers on paper. As long as there is more capacity from existing plants than is required, direct or indirect supply contracts alone will not lead to ecological improvement. An additional environmental benefit is only achieved through seals, which u. a. Demand additional expansion effects, ensured.

In the third case, the green electricity provider operates conventional power plants or buys gray electricity on the electricity market and acquires the right to advertise its electricity as “green electricity” from green electricity producers. The actual green electricity producer is then no longer allowed to sell his electricity as “green electricity”, which, however, could be concealed by advertising.

Direct vs. indirect commercial contracts

Green electricity products that are not based on direct supply contracts have been criticized by individual environmental activists as simply relabelling , others see the type of supply contracts as irrelevant. It should be borne in mind that the purchase of electricity from old and already depreciated power plants, even through directly concluded contracts, has hardly any additional environmental benefits and can also be misused for “green electricity washing”. A study by the Öko-Institut showed that the income of an operator of regenerative power plants with direct supply contracts is not higher than indirect supply contracts expiring via certificates and are therefore equivalent. On the other hand, there seems to be agreement on the importance of the expansion effect, which is described below.

Construction and promotion of new plants

When buying green electricity from already existing environmentally friendly sources (mostly hydroelectric power plants that have been in existence for decades), other electricity customers receive a higher share of fossil / nuclear electricity. This means that there is no additional positive effect for the environment. Changes in the interests of the environment could only be achieved if new regenerative plants were built and operated, thereby pushing back conventional power plants. Ideally, certified providers therefore undertake not only to supply green electricity, but also to build up additional production capacities. This model was first promoted by Naturstrom AG and Greenpeace Energy and is becoming more and more popular with serious green electricity providers. For example, Greenpeace Energy has undertaken to purchase the electrical energy sold to its own customers every year at the latest after five years from newly built power plants.

At Naturstrom AG as well as at the Schönau electricity works , the customer also has the option of opting for a product with a higher expansion of the generation capacity at an additional cost.

NaturWatt GmbH has anchored in its partnership agreement that profits are used exclusively for the expansion of renewable energies. Several photovoltaic systems were built with it by 2009.

The requirement for an expansion effect is also seen as a central aspect when evaluating green electricity seals. “The Ok-power label and the green electricity label apply the strictest standards”, according to Stiftung Warentest , among the Tüv certificates only EE01 and EE02 from Tüv-Süd guarantee “a certain extension”.

Surcharge model and donation model

In the special case of the so-called surcharge model, the customer continues to purchase the electricity that corresponds to the electricity mix of the respective supplier or buys electricity from older systems that have already been depreciated. However, the customer voluntarily pays a higher electricity price. This difference is invested in the promotion of new regenerative plant capacity.

The donation model works analogously , where green electricity companies solicit financial donations without a customer relationship with the donor or a link with his consumption. The advantage of this model is that donations are VAT-free.

Independence from conventional producers

Green electricity can also be produced or sold by corporations or their subsidiaries (e.g. RWE: eprimo , EnBW NaturEnergiePlus , E.On E wie einfach ), which mainly operate nuclear and coal-fired power plants. With these corporations it is often disputed what they use the additional income from the sale of green electricity and whether they are interested in an energy transition at all . Since, for example, the OK Power Label has also certified green electricity offers from Vattenfall and EnBW , the green electricity providers Elektrizitätswerke Schönau and Greenpeace Energy have deliberately waived this seal of approval, even though they meet the conditions for it. Even if the direct operation of nuclear power plants is excluded, this can be circumvented through a subsidiary (e.g. green electricity label for Kevag / RWE).

Several large and some smaller German environmental associations have joined forces in the nuclear phase-out campaign . This only recommends credibly ecologically oriented green electricity providers and also places little value on quality seals.

Stiftung Warentest only rated green electricity products with top marks that, in addition to support for expansion, come from providers with a particular ecological commitment.

Unavoidable proportion of gray current

Due to the unavoidable transmission losses of approx. 5 to 10% of the electrical energy fed in, which are replaced by the network operators without the electricity supplier having any influence on this, a certain consumption of gray electricity is given even when buying pure green electricity .

Simultaneous green electricity supply

In the case of a green electricity product with simultaneous feed-in, the supplier delivers the amount of green electricity that its customers are currently consuming at all times. The required amount of green electricity can be generated in the company's own power plants or purchased. For small customers, consumption is assumed using a statistically determined average load profile ; Larger consumers have special electricity meters, so-called load profile meters , which record the course of electricity consumption over time. Fluctuations within a quarter of an hour are usually neglected; H. the service delivered by the supplier only needs to match the consumption of its customers on a quarter-hourly average. Short-term fluctuations and any forecast errors are compensated for by the network operator .

Only a green electricity supplier who feeds in at the same time can largely guarantee that the customer only supports those types of electricity generation when paying their electricity bills that are declared in the electricity mix of their chosen product. In addition, no fossil / nuclear backup power plants are required. However, i. A. no statement was made as to whether the simultaneity of green electricity generation by means of technical measures such as B. specially provided control reserve is achieved or whether the required amounts of electricity from larger power plants, which can also be pure base load power plants, are diverted. In the first case, a technological feasibility of a pure green electricity supply with virtual power plants is demonstrated. In the latter case, the obligation to cover demand peaks with (possibly unecological) medium - load and peak-load power plants is passed on to other suppliers. In this case, a specific environmental benefit has not been proven in the overall assessment.

TÜV Nord

Simultaneous feed-in calculated at the day level can be certified by TÜV Nord. B. at EWS-Schönau.

With the certificates of TÜV Nord, it always depends on the content; there are also green electricity certificates from TÜV Nord, which do not document a simultaneous feed-in.

TÜV SÜD EE02

The EE02 standard requires that 100% of electricity supplies come from renewable energies. Furthermore, he demands the simultaneity between generation and consumption at least every hour. At least 2/3 of any surcharge must be used to promote the expansion of renewable energy. This standard is a dealer and fund model.

Equal quantities of green electricity supply

In the case of a green electricity product, the same amount means that the supplier feeds or purchases the amount of green electricity into the grid that his customers consume in total over a year.

A customer of a utility z. For example, if an electricity mix of "100% hydropower" is specified, which is fed in in the same amount, in reality, at peak times, it receives a certain amount of electricity of unknown origin. For this purpose, hydropower electricity is supplied to other consumers at other times without it being declared to them. In total, the declared and the consumed quantities match, just not at all times.

If no further details are given, it is usually a question of feeding in the same quantity, since feeding in at the same time is technically more complex and therefore more expensive.

TÜV SÜD EE01

The EE01 standard requires that 100% of the electricity supplied comes from renewable energies. Of these 100%, 30% of the electricity deliveries must come from generation capacities whose generation quantities:

at the time of the first issue of the certificate according to this standard originate from systems that were put into operation no longer than 36 months ago; and
originate at any time from systems that were put into operation no more than 120 months ago

At least 2/3 of any surcharge must be used to promote the expansion of renewable energy. This standard is a dealer and fund model.

Naturemade star

naturemade star stands for electricity from 100% renewable energy sources. In addition, it guarantees compliance with additional strict and comprehensive ecological requirements and distinguishes electricity that is produced in a particularly environmentally friendly manner. The label includes a subsidy for the construction of new systems, but does not have a new system criterion. It is widespread almost exclusively in Switzerland and is the market leader there in the area of high environmental requirements.

ok power

A seal with a focus on a high expansion effect.

100% regenerative (before 2013: share of combined heat and power generation maximum 50%), from systems with additional ecological requirements (e.g. little interference with the ecosystem)
At least a third of the electricity must come from systems that are not more than six years old.
Another third must come from systems that are not more than twelve years old.
The systems of both categories must be built outside the funding area of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).

The criteria of the ok-power seal described above relate to the retailer model. ok-power offers two further models, the fund model and the initiation model.

RenewablePLUS

The label guarantees that 100% of the electricity generated comes from renewable energies. With this label, the operators / owners of the power plants guarantee that they promote the expansion of renewable energies. You invest either in newly built plants or in the expansion and expansion of existing plants. Investments can also be made in ecological measures in connection with the generation of renewable energies. There is no age criterion for the generation plants. The operators / owners invest in power plants or projects that are newly implemented in the respective year of electricity generation and thus guarantee increased electricity generation.

The label will be climate neutral from the 2012 delivery period. CO ₂ emissions that arise during construction and operation are made climate-neutral through the use of emission reduction certificates. The emission reduction certificates usually come from projects promoting renewable energies. From the 2013 delivery period, RenewablePLUS will include the element of equal amounts on a monthly basis. In this way, guarantees of origin are produced at the same time as consumption in all months of the calendar year. The criteria of reinvestment, actual climate neutrality and monthly equal amounts are checked and audited annually by TÜV Rheinland. This can be viewed in the TÜV database under ID 23040.

From the 2013 delivery period, the emission reduction certificates for climate neutralization will come from sustainable and recognized projects of the TÜV Rheinland certified ÖkoPLUS label. ÖkoPLUS-certified projects are to guarantee the promotion of sustainable and social structures as well as an actual sustainable development at the place of work using globally recognized indices. The criteria for the sustainable promotion and development of social structures in emission reduction projects are checked and audited annually by TÜV Rheinland. This can be viewed in the TÜV database under ID 37968.

Green electricity label

Green electricity label in Germany

The Green Electricity Seal of Approval (formerly: Green Electricity Label Gold) is the oldest green electricity label in Germany and identifies green electricity products with renewable electricity that comes from plants with additional ecological requirements (e.g. little interference with the ecosystem). It is the only green electricity label in Germany that is supported and recommended by leading environmental associations such as NABU and BUND . According to the catalog of criteria, the following central criteria are basic requirements for certification:

Electricity providers must support energy transition projects with a fixed amount per kilowatt hour sold (e.g. photovoltaic systems, wind parks, energy efficiency measures, e-mobility projects, but also community energy projects):
- Up to 10,000 kWh per year 0.5 cents (net) per kWh
- Between 10,000 kWh and 100,000 kWh per year 0.4 cents (net) per kWh
- Between 100,000 kWh and 3,000,000 kWh per year 0.2 cents (net) per kWh
- From 3,000,000 kWh per year 0.1 cents (net) per kWh

The electricity must come from 100% renewable energies (from existing or new power plants).
Companies that operate nuclear power plants themselves, or are directly involved in one, do not receive the label, but can have interests through companies that are themselves operators of nuclear power plants.
Companies that - after the 2015 catalog of criteria came into force - acquire new direct investments in existing or new coal-fired power plants do not receive the label.
RECS certificates are not permitted as proof of the delivery obligation.

EKOenergy

EKOenergy is a network of European environmental organizations. The EKOenergy label is the only pan-European label for 100% renewable electricity. Electricity can only be sold as EKOenergy if the product meets the criteria set by the EKOenergy network. This includes the following aspects:

Accurate consumer information
sustainability
climate
Tracking and guarantees of origin

For each kWh of EKOenergy sold, a minimum contribution of 0.01 cents must be paid into an EKOenergy climate fund and 0.008 cents must be paid to EKOenergy. The amount contained in the fund is used to stimulate future investments in renewable energy and to increase the share of renewable energies in world energy production. In addition, for every megawatt-hour sold as EKOenergy hydropower, 0.01 cents are paid into an EKOenergy environmental fund. It is stated that EKOenergy electricity products are on average 10% above the market price of conventional electricity.

Green electricity market

Market shares

The share of renewable energies in electricity consumption is increasing continuously. In the first three months of 2020, at 52%, it was more than half of total consumption for the first time. In the first three months of 2019, it was 44%, according to calculations by the BDEW energy association . In total, renewable energies delivered 77 terawatt hours (TWh). With 43 TWh, onshore wind power was, as in the previous year, the most important source of green electricity.

In the first half of 2014, the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energies in Germany was 31%, or 81 TWh. 26.7 TWh came from wind energy , also 26.7 TWh from solar energy and 25.6 TWh from biogas . In 2013, renewable energies had a global share of around 22% or 5,070 TWh of total electricity generation.

According to a representative survey by Forsa from 2011, 69% of all consumers in Germany expect that the expansion of renewable energies in Germany will be promoted by purchasing green electricity.

If you equate green electricity with electricity from regenerative energies, the table of gross electricity generation by energy source in Germany shows the share of green electricity in total German gross electricity generation in the row regenerative share . In 2011 the federal government announced a target of 35% green electricity for 2020.

The transparency platform of the Leipzig Power Exchange ( EEX ) for Germany and Austria offers up-to-date data with the possibility of viewing the feed-in fluctuation range for Germany and Austria with regional allocation via a filter option according to transmission network operator .

The share of private households with green electricity is between 16% and 28%, depending on the federal state.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been the front runner in the expansion of renewable energies in Germany since 2009 . More than half of the electricity produced there comes from renewable sources, mainly from wind and biogas plants. Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt are in second and third place .

In 2007, the share of electricity sold as green electricity in total electricity sales for private households in Germany was 2.9 billion kWh, around 2%.

Green electricity provider

Germany

Several green electricity providers want to increase the share of renewable energies in the German electricity mix and are therefore investing in new systems. Their customers are primarily citizens and companies interested in ecology and politics who were prepared to pay higher prices, especially in the early years. In the meantime, this price difference has largely disappeared.

The Electricity Schonau (EWS) was established in 1994 as a limited company and began 1997 first with 1,700 regional customers. From 1999 EWS offered green electricity nationwide and had around 150,000 customers in 2014. According to the TÜV Nord certificate, EWS guarantees "a simultaneous full supply of customers (based on daily values)."

Unit energy AG was founded in 1996 , and from 1999 onwards it offered green electricity across Germany together with the Dutch electricity supplier Nuon . Under the brand name unit [e] naturstrom , customers were mainly acquired in the central and southern German branches of Deutsche Post AG. The customers were later taken over by Greenpeace Energy . In 2007 the company went bankrupt.

The nature Strom AG was founded in 1998 by representatives of several conservation and renewable energy associations in order to strengthen development of renewable energies . Naturstrom AG initially bought the electricity from operators of solar, wind, water, biomass and geothermal power plants who could not operate their systems economically with the state-guaranteed remuneration alone.

After the liberalization of the electricity market in 1998, Greenpeace Energy and Lichtblick were also created . In addition to national providers of decentralization act in the course of growing local and regional green electricity provider in the electricity market ( regional power , community energy cooperatives ). In 2013, the first energy cooperatives founded the umbrella cooperative Bürgerwerke eG , to which today (2019) over 100 cooperatives belong. As the new municipal energy supplier, Berliner Stadtwerke has been offering self-produced green electricity since 2015 . From the consumer's point of view, in addition to prices, contract conditions such as price guarantee, contract duration and notice periods are other important aspects.

Austria

In Austria, Oekostrom Vertriebs-GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Oekostrom AG , started supplying households and businesses before the general liberalization of the electricity market , which only took place there in October 2001. This was possible because the Austrian legislator allowed direct customer deliveries for producers of electricity from wind, biomass and solar energy as early as February 1999. The company's customers include a. the environmental organizations Global 2000 and WWF . Oekostrom GmbH publishes all supplier power plants, uses only certificates for electricity labeling in connection with the corresponding physical delivery (i.e. no purchase of gray electricity ) and has its own balance group , which ensures above-average transparency of the electricity products offered. Oekostrom GmbH offers cheap tariffs, where the green electricity comes mainly from hydropower, and higher-quality tariffs that have been awarded the Austrian eco-label.

Naturkraft Energievertriebsgesellschaft mbH was founded in April 2001 as another pure green electricity provider in Austria. Naturkraft customers are supplied exclusively with electricity from renewable energy sources. The company is a 100% subsidiary of Energieallianz Austria GmbH, in which Energie Burgenland AG holds 10%, EVN AG 45% and Wien Energie GmbH 45%. Naturkraft's electricity products have also been awarded the Austrian green electricity eco-label .

Since October 2001 the Alpen Adria Naturenergie (AAE, based in Kötschach-Mauthen, Carinthia) has been offering several natural electricity products, including the natural electricity PLUS , which has been awarded the eco-label . It was founded to promote the expansion of green power plants in the Alps-Adriatic region. In this family business, only clean energy is obtained from certified hydropower, biomass, wind and sun. That is why the AAE was awarded by the Climate Alliance Austria in September 2005 and is z. B. recommended by the environmental organization Greenpeace . To date (August 2011) numerous municipalities and over 11,000 households and businesses have become green electricity customers.

In 2000, the Vorarlberg green electricity exchange , the Salzburg green electricity exchange in 2005 and the Austria green electricity exchange in 2009 were founded with the aim of promoting various small power plants consisting of associations of small energy producers, distributors and consumers. Consumers support the exchange based on the donation model or through financial investments.

In 2010 the green electricity company Ökoenergie Tirol was founded, which is a 100% subsidiary of TIWAG . According to its own statements, this provider obtains 100% of its electricity from small hydropower plants .

As in Germany, most of the Austrian ex-monopolists have a green electricity offer, for which the same reservations apply as there. The number of green electricity customers in Austria is only a fraction of the number of customers who, in purely mathematical terms, are already supplied by Austrian hydropower plants. Buying electricity from large hydropower plants cannot therefore improve electricity generation.

Switzerland

Naturemade Star seal of approval

In Switzerland there has been a feed-in tariff for green electricity since 2009. Various Swiss electricity and municipal utilities offer their customers electricity products that, depending on the provider, contain a certain proportion of green electricity. The gradations range from a simple addition to conventional electricity to exclusively eco-certified electricity. The aim is to promote energy from renewable sources and invest the money accordingly in the construction of such systems.

RegioMix is a product of several Swiss energy companies that works according to the surcharge model. The surcharge was paid in 2005 by over 1000 customers for a total of 1.4 million kWh, which promoted green electricity systems. The electricity mix in 2011 consisted of 70% small hydropower, 20% biogas, 8% wind energy and 3% solar energy.

naturemade star , the seal of quality for green electricity, is supported by WWF Switzerland , pro natura , the Swiss Consumer Forum and the leading energy supply companies, as well as various green electricity associations such as Swissolar and the Ökostrom Schweiz cooperative, which buys green electricity from small providers.

At the ADEV Energiegenossenschaft you donate a fixed amount of money per year and you can specify whether small hydropower, wind power, solar energy or a mixture of 34% water, 65% wind and 1% solar should be promoted. A corresponding number of kilowatt hours is generated and certified with the Swiss naturemade quality mark . The provider also promises to donate 3% of sales annually to a suitable project for sustainable energy supply in developing countries. Currently (May 2006) 132 donors support the production of 475,000 kWh of green electricity per year.

Luxembourg

The provider CREOS (formerly CEGEDEL) obtains its electricity for the Nova Naturstrom offer from Greenpeace Energy in Germany.

With the opening of the electricity market in Luxembourg, the pure green electricity supplier EIDA SA eida.green offers electricity from 100% renewable energies.

France

Green electricity plays a subordinate role in France. The Enercoop cooperative initiative, founded in 2005 with the participation of Greenpeace, bundles the activities of regional producer groups. In October 2011 it had 10,000 customers. Profits are invested in expanding the generation of renewable energies. The Rhone-Alpes region participates in the cooperative.

United States

The United States has around 30 national and numerous smaller regional and local green electricity providers. They mainly use wind power, and increasingly biomass and solar energy. Most of them have been on the market since around 2000. The 2008–2009 financial crisis and the Fukushima nuclear disaster triggered an investment boom. Large solar power plants are currently being built in California and Nevada (2010–2011) . A special business model is the climate-neutral generation of electricity and gas in connection with reforestation measures.

criticism

With customers, green electricity creates the idea of reducing CO ₂ emissions by choosing tariffs . This assumption is wrong, because due to the feed-in priority for electricity generated from renewable sources, a mere change in the flow of money, bypassing the electricity exchange and trading directly with the producer, has no effect on the CO ₂ emissions. The renewable electricity of the green electricity customer corresponds to an equally large reduction in the regenerative share in the gray electricity and a change in his electricity consumption produces an equally large change in fossil electricity generation. Green electricity contracts would only have a positive CO ₂ effect if they triggered a higher investment in regenerative technology. However, only some providers can guarantee this.

Many green electricity offers are under criticism. Of the approximately 810 green electricity suppliers that existed in Germany in 2011, only a fraction of the suppliers actually met the purchase expectations of consumers , according to an analysis by the Federal Environment Agency . Of the 7.25 million consumers in Germany who purchased green electricity instead of gray electricity in 2012 in order to promote the energy transition and the expansion of renewable energies, a majority unconsciously supports electricity generation from nuclear and coal-fired power plants .

Some offers serve the greenwashing of the provider or are intended to encourage people to switch electricity providers . Most electricity providers pursue this business practice. Some passages in the Renewable Energy Sources Directive allow providers to sell electricity products as green electricity that do not have a positive effect on the expansion of systems to use renewable sources. It is the main purpose and objective of the directive to promote the use of energy from renewable sources. Instead, ostensible green electricity products are legitimized with the help of mandatory trade with so-called guarantees of origin (especially RECS ). However, these only show that electricity, which is already fed into the power grid from renewable sources somewhere in Europe - mostly hydropower plants that have been in operation for a long time - is statistically shifted to where green electricity is in demand. This evidence demonstrably does not have a positive effect on the energy transition . Green electricity products created in this way therefore largely deviate from the purchase motives that consumers use to demand green electricity.

Web links

Commons : Renewable energy - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Green electricity - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Marktwächter Energie overview: The most important green electricity labels - Consumer Center Lower Saxony
Green electricity label e. V. - Association for the certification of green energy products, supported u. a. from BUND, NABU, DNR and EUROSOLAR
Energy Vision e. V. - originator of the label ok-power-Siegel - carried by the Öko-Institut, consumer center NRW and WWF
Ecotopten - Öko-Institut e. V. - Comparison of green electricity providers in Germany
Robin Wood study of the green electricity market
Umweltbundesamt, market analysis green electricity , final report, 2014, (220 pages),

Individual evidence

↑ Article “Green electricity” in RP-Energie-Lexikon

↑ § 5 Green Electricity Act 2012 in Austria

↑ http://www.test.de/Strom-Der-Wechsel-lohnt-1132700-1132740/

↑ Information on the topic of green electricity ( Memento from July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on Steckdose.de

↑ Green electricity ( Memento from September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

↑ naturemade

↑ ^a ^b environmental benefits of green electricity; 2008; M. Pehnt, ifeu - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg, D. Seebach, Öko-Institut e. V., W. Irrek, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy GmbH, D. Seifried, Office Ö-Quadrat (PDF; 210 kB)

↑ ^a ^b Illusion green electricity; The time; 2008

↑ https://www.energie-lexikon.info/ag_stromversorgung.html

↑ Make your own exit from nuclear power - become a green electricity customer! ( Memento from August 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Jens Lubbadeh: Deceptive package: Electricity providers sell nuclear power as green electricity. In: Spiegel Online . January 5, 2008, accessed June 9, 2018 .

↑ http://www.bee-ev.de/3:50/Mektiven/2008/BEE-gegen-Zertifikatehandel-fuer-Erneuerbare-Energien.html

↑ Interesting facts about green electricity ( Memento from September 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

^ Background paper Energy & Climate Protection, Öko Institut; 2008; Point 6 (PDF file; 251 kB)

↑ http://www.test.de/Serie-Energie-sparen-Teil-3-Oekostrom-Natuerlich-gruen-1723641-0/

↑ NaturWatt GmbH profit appropriation projects. Retrieved June 8, 2009 (German).

↑ ^a ^b Green electricity tariffs: choose good green electricity; Stiftung Warentest; 2012

↑ see e.g. B. Green electricity label gold and OK-Power fund model

↑ http://www.oekostromboerse.at/oesterreich

↑ http://www.naturfreunde.de/archiv-atomausstieg-selber-machen

↑ http://www.greenpeace-energy.de/presse/artikel/article/greenpeace-energy-zur-aktuellen-diskussion-ueber-oekostrom.html

↑ https://www.ews-schoenau.de/export/sites/ews/ews/energiedienstleistungen/.files/ews-tuev-zertifikat.pdf

↑ http://www.tuev-sued.de/uploads/images/1337578329085069670207/ee02.pdf

↑ Certificate ( Memento from May 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ ok-power criteria catalog; Section 1.2 ( Memento from October 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 849 kB)

↑ ^a ^b ^c http://www.tuvdotcom.com/quality_marks/0000023040?locale=de

↑ ^a ^b http://www.tuvdotcom.com/quality_marks/0000037968?locale=de

↑ Grüner Strom Label eV: Criteria catalog. In: Criteria of the Green Electricity Label. Grüner Strom Label eV, April 25, 2019, accessed on April 25, 2019 .

↑ Grüner Strom Label eV: Green electricity: Green electricity label adapts funding system for energy transition projects. In: Press release | Grüner Strom Label eV Grüner Strom Label eV, January 31, 2017, accessed on April 25, 2019 .

↑ http://www.ekoenergy.org/de/ecolabel/aspects/

↑ Catalog of criteria EKOenergy 2013 (PDF; 252 kB) 0.008 kWh in section 6.3

↑ Renewables share due to major special effects at 52 percent for the first time, accessed on April 1, 2020

↑ http://www.bmwi-energiewende.de/EWD/Redaktion/Newsletter/2014/22/Meldung/fraunhofer-2014-erneuerbare-wichtigste-quelle-im-deutschen-strommix.html

↑ The role of renewables in the energy mix continued to expand 13 in International Energy Agency (IEA): Renewable Energy - Medium Term Market Report 2014, page 3, accessed on August 19, 2016

↑ Consumer expectations of green electricity and the consequences for green electricity label criteria , Author: forsa, December 21, 2011, page 15, accessed on August 19, 2016

↑ http://energie.rp-online.de/energienachrichten/-/specific/Millionen-fuer-den-Oekostrom-2043867684 (link not available)

↑ Feed-in data on the "transparency platform" of the Leipzig electricity exchange: a subdivision into the types of electricity conventional, wind and solar is given. Example calls: actual wind production ( memento of February 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), actual solar production ( memento of February 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) and general overview ( memento of February 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).

↑ http://www.foederal-erneuerbar.de/uebersicht/bundeslaender/BW%7CBY%7CB%7CBB%7CHB%7CHH%7CHE%7CMV%7CNI%7CNRW%7CRLP%7CSL%7CSN%7CST%7CSH%7CTH%7CD / category / acceptance / selection / 227-share_of_households / # goto_227

↑ Eastern Germany leads the way in green electricity ( Memento from July 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Green electricity - little demand in German households . Umweltjournal.de. February 21, 2009. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved on February 22, 2009.