Is it economically viable to use green energy?
Both by choice and legislation, consumers are turning to green energy to meet domestic, business and manufacturing needs. And economic benefits and concessions are being offered to incentivise the generation and use of green energy: Renewable energy certificates or RECs (also known as green certificates or green tags) are tradable commodities that attest to the energy an organisation generates by using renewable energy sources. Typically, one certificate represents generation of 1 Megawatthour of electricity. Countries using green certificates as national trading schemes include Poland, Sweden, some states in the USA, the UK, Italy and Belgium (Wallonia and Flanders). Further, different initiatives have been started to regulate greenhouse emissions and ameliorate the effects of global warming. Examples include the Kyoto Protocol (drawn up in Kyoto in 1997) and the G8 Climate Change Roundtable (formed at the 2005 World Economic Forum) which aim to reduce emissions by the world’s richest
