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What is the Green Power Market Development Group - Europe?
The Green Power Market Development Group-Europe is a unique partnership dedicated to building commercial and industrial markets for renewable energy in Europe. Group members will explore opportunities to install renewable energy generation systems such as solar, wind, and biomass at their corporate facilities and to purchase green electricity from their utilities.
What are the Group's goals and aspirations?
The Group seeks to demonstrate the business case for corporate use of renewable energy, evaluate and deploy a variety of renewable energy technologies, and engage the marketplace to take renewable energy to scale.
Europe already has more than 52,000 megawatts (MW) of installed renewable power capacity. This world leadership in green power generation is driven primarily by progressive supply-side policies such as feed-in tariffs and renewable obligations that many European countries have enacted. However, a regulatory approach focusing only on utility supply will be insufficient to create the energy transformation needed to address the challenge of climate change.
The largest energy users in Europe, the commercial and industrial sectors, will need to increase their demand for and on-site use of renewable energy to complement supply-side government policies. For this to occur, companies will need to recognize the business case for switching to renewable energy resources and understand how to deploy and finance renewable energy technologies. The Group seeks to chart this path for corporate energy users.
Who are the corporate partners in the Group?
The corporate partners are British Telecom, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, General Motors, Holcim, IBM, IKEA, InterfaceFLOR, Johnson & Johnson, Michelin, Nike CSC, Staples, Tetra Pak, Unilever, Vodafone, and Wal-Mart.
Who is convening the Group?
The Green Power Market Development Group - Europe is convened by the World Resources Institute (WRI) working in collaboration with The Climate Group. WRI (www.wri.org) is a global environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the Earth and improve people's lives, is convening the Group. Since 2000, WRI has convened a similar renewable energy buyers group in the United States (see www.thegreenpowergroup.org).
The Climate Group (www.theclimategroup.org) is a solutions focused organisation, working to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gases by assembling a leadership coalition of proactive companies and city, state and national governments. The Climate Group and WRI collaborate in conducting outreach to large energy users, building networking opportunities, and communicating partner successes.
What is the value of Group membership?
The collaboration provides many benefits to Group partners including:
- Accelerated process for learning about renewable energy markets and technologies
- Timely information about renewable energy products and incentives
- Introductions to renewable energy project developers and suppliers
- Technical assistance in evaluating renewable energy projects
- Access to network of managers experienced with pursuing renewable energy
- Lessons learned and innovative strategies shared by member companies
- Public recognition for renewable energy purchases and investments.
Will the Group accept new corporate members?
Yes, the Group welcomes additional members. Companies with a significant presence in Europe and with an interest in diversifying their energy supplies with renewable resources are welcome to contact Diana Profir (tel. +44 (0) 207 960 2988 or by email at dprofir@theclimategroup.org) or Alexander Perera (tel. +1 202 729 7729 or by email at aperera@wri.org) to learn more about joining the Group.
In which markets will the Group explore renewable energy opportunities?
The Group will explore renewable energy options for facilities throughout Europe.
What type of renewable energy opportunities will the Group pursue?
The Group seeks to use energy from sources that offer significant environmental advantages over conventional power and that have a low impact on the environment and public health. The Group is exploring several approaches to purchasing and utilizing renewable energy including on-site systems, grid-connected green electricity, and renewable energy certificates.
The three forms of clean and renewable energy the Group will pursue include:
- Green electricity: Power from renewable resources including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas, and certified low-impact hydro
- Green thermal energy: Heat from renewable resources such as biomass, solar, and geothermal
- Clean energy technologies: Electricity and/or heat from hydrogen fuel cells.
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