| 1. Automation of EKOenergy’s processes |
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In order to efficiently manage increasing volumes of EKOenergy-labelled sales, we are taking new steps to make EKOenergy's processes easier for our authorised sellers.
An online tool called EKOdirect will enable our sellers to:
- get an overview of pre-checked installations online, i.e. installations that fulfil our sustainability criteria and can be used for the sales of EKOenergy,
- add the EKOenergy label at the time of redemption (cancellation),
- generate proofs of EKOenergy consumption for their clients,
- keep an overview of their EKOenergy transactions and payments.
EKOenergy has signed a contract with CerQlar for the development of this online tool. CerQlar is a Dutch company, based in Amsterdam, born in 2020 to set new technology standards in the environmental certificate markets. The CerQlar solution features comprehensive environmental certificates inventory and portfolio management capabilities.
We are looking forward to the development of the EKOdirect tool in the coming months! Once operational, it will be made available to all our authorised sellers.
If you want to be among its first users, get in touch with Steven Vanholme from EKOenergy or Daniel Lacko from CerQlar. |
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| 2. News from ongoing projects financed by EKOenergy |
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Users of EKOenergy-labelled energy help speed up the energy transition in many ways. Every EKOenergy user contributes to clean energy projects in developing countries. These projects improve the living standards of local communities, many of which are located in rural, off-grid areas.
We regularly share news about ongoing and finalised projects.
Earlier this year, we granted 25,000 € to the NGO Health and Rural Development Balochistan (Pakistan), to install solar energy systems in 4 schools and 4 rural health centres. We got lots of photos of the training sessions and the arrival of the materials.
We received updates from one of the projects in Malawi, which involves the installation of solar PV panels in 4 rural health centres in 2 districts in southern Malawi. Two of the centres each got a solar-powered water pumping system.
Last year, EKOenergy granted 18,500 € to the NGO Amazon Conservation Team. Our contribution was used to install solar energy systems at health posts in Araracuara in the Colombian Amazon. The installations are complete and working as planned!
Earlier this year, we granted the NGO IHD 25,000 € to bring electricity to 3 health centres and 3 schools in the Southern Kivu province of Congo. The money has been used to purchase and install solar panels, batteries, converters and other equipment.
Follow us on social media for regular updates about these projects and others that have been realised thanks to the users and sellers of EKOenergy-labelled energy. |
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| "Previously, it could take several days to grind the grain, as the distances are long. We made the journey on foot and carried the heavy sacks of grain on our shoulders." - Taken from the article on Maailma.net about one of the projects EKOenergy financed in cooperation with the Siemenpuu Foundation (in Finnish) |
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| 3. We're a member of RECS |
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After 10 years of fruitful cooperation with RECS Energy Certificate Association, we have now decided to become one of their official members.
When the EKOenergy label was launched in 2013, tracking renewable electricity was still a relatively new phenomenon in many parts of the world. We worked a lot on disseminating information about using renewable electricity and on proper reporting. This was where our path crossed with the RECS Energy Certificate Association, a non-profit foundation promoting open and transparent demand-driven renewable energy markets, facilitated by commonly accepted and harmonised tracking systems.
Only reliably tracked megawatt-hours can carry the EKOenergy label and avoidance of double counting is one of the key components of EKOenergy’s criteria. We have been coordinating regularly with RECS to stay up to date regarding recent developments and best practices in the field of energy tracking. We have organised workshops together, exchanged ideas and supported their annual event, the REC Market Meeting.
We are happy that we are now an official member of this great organisation and we’re looking forward to the next 10 years of productive cooperation. |
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| "1.5 C is a physical limit, a margin of safety. We cannot abandon a physical limit. 1.5 C is a moral responsibility too. We cannot escape our moral responsibility." - Young-jin Choi, climate impact investor and climate policy advocate |
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| 4. Newsletter - Do your colleagues receive our news too? |
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We published our first newsletter 10 years ago, in November 2012, a couple of months before the launch of our ecolabel. Starting from a simple email containing some basic information for our partner organisations and early supporters, the EKOenergy newsletter has now become one of our main tools of communication. We use our newsletter to inform a growing number of EKOenergy sellers and users around the world about our plans and achievements, and also ask for their input and ideas.
Please check if all relevant personnel within your company are receiving this newsletter. Contact us and we’ll be happy to add your interested colleagues to our mailing list.
You can use the translation function (available on desktop/laptop computers only) which provides a machine translation in more than 40 different languages.
For those interested in history: You can find all our past 160 newsletters in the archive on our Website. |
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| 5. Takeaways from the I-REC Standard conference (ISC) 2022 |
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EKOenergy was a proud supporting association of the I-REC Standard Conference (ISC), which took place in Bangkok, Thailand, on the 1st and 2nd of November. It was a well-attended event with lots of opportunities to meet like-minded professionals from all over the world.
Here are 3 of our takeaways:
With a majority of participants from ASEAN countries, most of whom were joining a conference with a focus on energy attribute certificates for the first time, the event has proven that renewable energy markets have expanded well beyond Western countries.
Standardisation is important but doesn’t necessarily mean centralisation. Stakeholders such as market participants and local authorities have an important role to play and their involvement is crucial to sustain the current growth.
The increasing interest in I-RECs in numerous countries shows that there are more than enough motivators for corporates to choose specific types of high-quality EACs to prove their commitment to sustainable renewables. |
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| "Energy attributes market is based on trust and transparency. The underlying quality assurance system and public trust are key. International cooperation pays off." - Liesbeth Switten, Secretary General AIB, at ICS 2022 |
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| 6. EKOenergy users among companies contributing to the common good |
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The German magazine WirtschafsWoche published a ranking of “German employers that contribute most to the common good” based on how a company is perceived by people in the area. The top 15 feature 5 companies that use EKOenergy-labelled renewables, including SAP and SCHOTT.
This is probably not a coincidence: Companies that have a focus on their energy, climate and environmental strategy contribute more to the common good and receive positive attention.
Congratulations to all those who scored high on the ranking, and in particular to the EKOenergy-users amongst them! |
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| 7. EKOenergy on social media |
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Follow EKOenergy on social media to get relevant updates about the climate crisis, renewable energy and climate action worldwide.
Here are some recent posts:
10 of the reasons to choose EKOenergy-labelled energy! We updated and redesigned one of our popular leaflets (from our LinkedIn)
We're asking for climate action in front of the parliament in Helsinki, as always! 🌍 #FridaysForFuture #ClimateStrike (from our Twitter)
The UN's Sustainable Development Goals are all linked. No one is too small to make a difference, and no one can do it alone! In our work to promote the use of renewables for climate action, we cooperate with local and international partners (from our Instagram).
New on our website: Energy scarcity, inaccessibility and poverty significantly affect the daily lives of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. Interview with Ruth Langsi Yeloma, coordinator of the African Union of Development NGOs (from our Twitter).
Today’s #WEO22 from the IEA essentially shuts down the myth that fossil gas is a transition fuel + makes it clear that fossil fuels are NOT the solution to today’s climate, energy, and affordability crises! (from our Twitter). |
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| "Labels are one of the ways to make things easier for consumers. We help more consumers move to action and increase the impact of their choice." - Steven Vanholme, EKOenergy ecolabel, in an interview with GO2 Markets |
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| 8. EKOenergy at various events and in publications |
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Steven Vanholme from EKOenergy gave a short presentation about how our ecolabel helps consumers increase their positive impact at a webinar organised by the World Wind Association.
On a new page on their website, Gesternova answers 7 frequently asked questions about our non-profit ecolabel: ¿Qué es EKOenergía? - What is EKOenergy?
GO2 Markets published an article about additionality and the role of labels. The article includes an interview with Steven Vanholme.
Caral - Soluciones Energéticas, one of our authorised sellers, presented EKOenergy at the Expo Solar 2022 in Peru. They explained how they can help owners of solar installations add our ecolabel to their on-site produced kilowatt-hours! |
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| "Energy is one of the key developmental bottlenecks in sub-Saharan Africa. Past experience has shown that the best chance of tackling fuel poverty will come from innovations that do not simply import exogenous technological solutions, but from solutions that respond to the needs and capabilities of African consumers." - Ruth Langsi Yeloma, coordinator of the African Union of Development NGOs, in an interview on our website |
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| 9. Politico: Low-cost renewables as an answer to the current crisis |
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Russia’s war on Ukraine has revealed a solution to the past trilemma trade-off between security, affordability and sustainability - all solutions now point to clean energy.
Europe’s vulnerability to the current energy crisis has been the result of a longer-running pattern of holding back on clean energy ambition and a false sense of security that gas would provide a bridge fuel. A good example of this is Germany, which is only just coming out of a lost decade of sluggish RES growth and support for new gas import infrastructure such as Nord Stream 2. A new report by analysts at CREA found that stalled wind power development has hurt the country’s energy security, economy and climate efforts. Had wind power grown with the rest of the EU since 2015, they would have saved 23 billion € in 2022.
Low-cost renewables combined with energy efficiency provide Europe with the fastest way out of the current crisis, and the only path that is financially and socially sustainable, as well as fundamentally democratic.
Read the full article "Will Europe embrace more renewables to beat back inflation?" on the Politico website. |
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We at EKOenergy are always enthusiastic to collaborate with new partners.
For further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch. |
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