The balance for 2014 makes clear how versatile the promotion through the Green Electricity Certification is. "As the only green electricity label, the Grüner Strom-Label guarantees investments in nature-friendly plants and specifically promotes the decentralized energy turnaround supported by regional actors," says Rosa Hemmers, chairwoman of the GSL. "The numbers prove that consumers bring about additional benefits for the environment when they purchase high-quality green electricity."
Currently, for example, the green electricity provider NATURSTROM is supporting the construction of a solar plant on a building at the Technical University of Berlin. Here, students are showing how easy it can be to actively help shape the energy transition. They want to sell the green electricity from their own system to their university and use the proceeds to finance educational projects for environmental protection.
A subsidy project of the regional energy supplier Pfalzwerke is currently undergoing practical testing: an innovative energy storage system makes it possible to increase self-consumption of solar power from one's own roof from twelve percent to around 45 percent.
With at least 1 cent per kilowatt hour, consumers with a Grüner Strom-certified green electricity tariff support the nature-friendly expansion of renewable energies. Since the start of certification, over 1,000 projects have already been supported with 35 million euros - usually in the regional environment of the energy provider. The Grüner Strom-Label thus focuses on the decentralized energy turnaround in Germany. Here, for example, citizen energy projects and tenant electricity models play an important role and are specifically supported by the label's new catalog of criteria.
The new statistics for 2014 to date are now also available at www.gruenerstrom.info. These are preliminary figures, as certification for this period has not yet been completed. The final values are expected to be higher.
Information on the project examples can be found at www.energiezukunft.eu and www.energieportal.pfalzwerke.de
About Grüner Strom Label e.V.
The Grüner Strom Label e.V. certifies green energy products. The association awards two seals of approval for this purpose: the Green Electricity Label for green electricity with added value and the Green Gas Label for environmentally compatible biogas. The association is backed by seven non-profit environmental and consumer associations and peace organizations. The Green Electricity and Green Gas labels are the only quality seals for green electricity and biogas in Germany that are supported by leading environmental associations.
