| 1. Porvoon Energia launches EKOenergy-labelled district heating |
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The Finnish energy company Porvoon Energia has been an enthusiastic seller of EKOenergy-labelled electricity for many years. We are happy that we can now extend the cooperation with them to the sector of renewable heating too.
Consumers connected to Porvoon Energia's district heating network are getting the option to choose EKOenergy-labelled heat.
Heat sold with our label fulfils EKOenergy's sustainability criteria and the sales also contribute to our work to promote renewable energy worldwide.
You can find more information about EKOenergy's criteria for renewable heat and cold on our website. Check out Porvoon Energia's website for more information about their EKOenergy-labelled EKOlämpö/EKOvärme product (in Finnish and Swedish). |
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| "Conscious consumers are nowadays choosing energy that is produced in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way. By choosing our new EKOenergy-labelled heat product, both households and businesses can demonstrate their commitment to environmentally sustainable solutions and encourage others to do the same. " - Oskar Tillander, Head of district heating at Porvoon Energia |
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| 2. REC Market Meeting 2022 was a success |
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The REC Market Meeting conference, held in Amsterdam on April 5-6, was a success. With more than 400 attendees, the conference was fully booked and there was an optimistic atmosphere.
It was inspiring to meet many of our licensed sellers and other renewable energy enthusiasts. We are proud that several speakers referred to our ecolabel as a good and pragmatic tool to create additional positive impact.
Thanks a lot to RECS Energy Certificate Association for organising such an interesting event. And thumbs up to all others who contributed to the success, in particular to the co-participants and panelists of the C-stream sessions. It was nice cooperating with all of you.
Unfortunately the two days flew by fast. We are now scheduling follow-up meetings. Feel free to reach out to us whether we had time to talk at the conference or not. We can achieve much more together! |
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| "Before creating new instruments, let's have a look at what already exists. There are good initiatives already operational Europe-wide, such as the EKOenergy ecolabel." - Adam White, while addressing a question about a study regarding an EU-wide green label, at the opening session of the REC Market Meeting conference |
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| 3. EKOenergy for Nutri - Lácteos San Antonio |
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Nutri - Lácteos San Antonio from Ecuador is using EKOenergy-labelled electricity from their on-site solar installation. Nutri is a local market leader in milk-based food products.
EKOenergy licensee DeltaGlobal SA installed solar panels with a total capacity of 1 MWp on Nutri's premises and encouraged and enabled them to add the EKOenergy label.
By adding our ecolabel, consumers of on-site solar energy:
👉 show that they they think globally & act locally,
👉 help us, as an initiative of environmental NGOs, promote renewable energy use worldwide,
👉 contribute to financing off-grid solar in developing countries,
👉 get the right to use our internationally recognised logo in their communications.
Thank you, Nutri - Lácteos San Antonio, for joining EKOenergy users all around the world! |
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| 4. Growing demand for EKOenergy |
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Despite the many challenges energy consumers and producers are facing worldwide, the interest in EKOenergy-labelled renewable energy remains strong and is growing year after year. We are happy to see that this is once more confirmed by an increase in the sold volumes of EKOenergy.
We are currently verifying how our label was used in 2021. With only 75% of the licensees checked, we have already exceeded the volumes of 2020 (which was a record year too).
There are multiple reasons for this growing interest. Buyers choose EKOenergy to increase the direct and indirect positive impact of their renewable energy consumption. Many value our non-profit approach and our expertise too. A growing number of consumers are using our name and internationally recognised logo in their communications as well. |
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| 5. EKOenergy's contribution to green hydrogen paper and China action plan |
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EKOenergy is a member of the IRENA Coalition for Action. Merve Güngör from EKOenergy has co-authored the second chapter of their recent paper "Decarbonising end-use sectors: Green hydrogen certification". That chapter gives an overview of considerations for the creation of green hydrogen certification, outlines the benefits and challenges of establishing green hydrogen certificates based on different custody chains and highlights lessons learnt from tracking systems for renewable electricity.
ThinkRE is a licensed EKOenergy seller. Merve Güngör collaborated with ThinkRE for the paper "Action Plan for Businesses in China: How to cover your consumption with renewable electricity" and wrote the first chapter, which outlines renewable energy procurement options and additional ways to increase the positive impact. The chapter also touches upon challenges to keep in mind before entering the Chinese market. |
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| "The latest numbers are in: 60 global banks, $4.6 TRILLION in fossil fuel financing since 2016, with $742 billion poured into fossil fuels in last year alone. Banks are talking a big game on climate without taking real action to stop the crisis." - The newest Banking on Climate Chaos report, endorsed by EKOenergy |
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| 6. Cooperation with the Siemenpuu Foundation - New call for projects in Mali |
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In 2018, we started a cooperation with the Siemenpuu Foundation for the selection and long-term monitoring of projects in Mali, Myanmar and Nepal. The Siemenpuu Foundation was founded more than 20 years ago by 15 Finnish NGOs and acts as a financier of democracy and environment-related initiatives of civil society actors in developing countries as well as a development cooperation organisation in Finland.
Through our cooperation, we want to combine the financial capacity of EKOenergy’s Climate Fund and Siemenpuu’s experience in development cooperation.
Recently we signed a cooperation agreement for another 4 years. As part of that agreement, the Siemenpuu Foundation has now launched a new call for renewable energy projects in Mali and is now preparing for the next steps in Myanmar too. |
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| "Over the past 5 months, I have learned a lot about sustainable development." - EKO-Mariia on VKontakte, about her European Solidarity Corps project at EKOenergy's Secretariat |
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| 7. EKOenergy on social media |
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By following EKOenergy on social media, you get relevant updates about the climate crisis, renewable energy and EKOenergy's activities worldwide.
Here are some recent posts: Ready for the second day of the REC Market Meeting conference. Merve Güngör will moderate a session on reporting energy consumption to CDP and RE100. Steven Vanholme will be a panelist in the session about how to support the #energytransition and create additional impact. (on LinkedIn)
We're happy to have our first Peruvian licensed seller, Caral Soluciones Energéticas joins the growing list of EKOenergy licensees! (on LinkedIn)
EKO-Merve was interviewed by SustaiNews about how companies can prove & report their renewable energy use. 🔌 (on Twitter)
The global climate strike in front of the Parliament in Helsinki! Thanks to everyone who showed up. (on Instagram)
UN Secretary General António Guterres: We must triple the speed of the shift to renewable energy. (on Youtube) |
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| 8. What does the latest IPCC climate report say? |
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The latest IPCC report, published on the 4th of April, points out that the world can still hope to stave off the worst ravages of climate breakdown but only through a “now or never” dash to a low-carbon economy and society. Everything will need to change: energy, buildings, transport, food and industry. Limiting warming to around 1.5°C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak immediately and be reduced by 43% by 2030 Coal must be phased out rapidly Growing forests and preserving soils will be necessary, but tree-planting cannot do enough to compensate for continued emissions for fossil fuels. Investment in the shift to a low-carbon world (including the renewable energy transition) is still about six times lower than it needs to be. “Climate change is the result of more than a century of unsustainable energy and land use, lifestyles and patterns of consumption and production. This report shows how taking action now can move us towards a fairer, more sustainable world.”
Text based on an article in The Guardian. See also the website of the IPCC. |
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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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