GREEN LABELS

Some suppliers sell renewable energy under a label, which defines the offering according to such matters as:

• type of technology;
• country of origin; and
• date of commissioning of the generation plant.

Tradable certificates make the operation of these schemes much simpler and more efficient, as renewable production has already been verified and audited:

• Tradable certificates are used in the same way as in voluntary green energy schemes;
• The information on the certificates can be used to confirm that the offering is as promised by the supplier;
• An independent organisation, perhaps the owner of the label, can confirm that the correct number of each type of certificates has been redeemed; and
• This facilitates international harmonisation of labels.