Energy Providers Support Renewable Energy Association’s Green Gas Certification Scheme
Energy companies are supporting a Green Gas Certification Scheme (GGCS) being launched by the Renewable Energy Association which will guarantee that the gas someone receives is green.
Gas is set to become more widely used in years to come as the Government seeks to cut carbon emissions. Coal fired power plants are set to be closed and it will be a while before wind power and other sources of renewable energy go on stream. However, there are an increasing number of anaerobic digestion plants being built which create biomethane in the form of biogas. It can also be produced from land fill sites or from synthetic gas production.
The proposed GGCS will actually follow all forms of biomethane from the beginning of the supply chain. It will mean consumers can be certain that the gas they are receiving is actually green gas.
Steve Sharratt from Bio Group said “The Green Gas Certification Scheme is a simple and reliable way to eliminate double-counting of registered green gas”. He continued “It provides certainty for consumers who buy the gas, confidence in green gas sector and an incentive for gas producers to inject green gas into the grid”.
Not only does the GGCS provide confidence in the green gas sector but it also acts as an incentive for companies producing gas to put green gas into the gas distribution network rather than generating electricity with it.
The GGCS is open to anyone involved in the green gas supply chain with the main people being involved in the scheme being green gas producers, suppliers and others who register gas sale contracts they’ve agreed.
So how is it possible to actually follow gas through the distribution network? Every kWh of green gas is labelled electronically. They are given a unique identifier called a Renewable Gas Guarantee of Origin (RGGO). This RGGO contains information about when, where and how the green gas was produced. It’s the RGGO which guarantees that the gas is genuinely green and hasn’t been sold to anyone else already.
The fact that it will become possible to prove that the gas received is actually green may encourage more people to choose green gas and may persuade businesses to choose green business gas and could help them to reduce their carbon footprint.