News from EKOenergy

Last week, we got some good news in our mailbox:

"The French ministry of Environment, Energy and Sea is glad to announce that your project is among the 100 climate actions elected by world citizens as a part of the '100 Projects for the Climate' initiative. (...) Citizens worldwide showed strong support for your project. Congratulations! 

(...) You and the other 99 chosen projects are invited to join a worldwide network of climate change actors and contribute to a collaborative dynamic that will benefit each project. The objective is to give you the support you need to better develop your project and to share best practices with other climate solution promoters."

Yes! Thanks to all those who voted for us. We will grasp this opportunity with both hands.

See also www.100projetspourleclimat.gouv.fr/en/winners

Since the beginning of this year, we have been working on an ecolabel for renewable gas (biogas and power to gas).

In developing this ecolabel, we are following the rules of ISEAL’s Standard Setting Code. In the past months we contacted many experts and we circulated and tested ideas. Now we are starting a public consultation about the proposed criteria.

The main elements of the text are the environmental criteria and the rules about how to track the gas.
 

- EN: EKOenergy’s criteria for renewable gas – Version for public consultation
- DE: EKOenergies Kriterien für erneuerbares Gas – Version zur öffentlichen Konsultation

The public consultation about this text runs until 5 October 2016. See also www.ekoenergy.org/public-consultation-ecolabel-renewable-gas/

"We often read and hear about the results of our work with river restorations and climate projects, but it was amazing to finally see the impact we have with these projects first hand!"

Amy Corrigan, in our most recent blog post "A sunny day out in Vihti"

Again a new product with the EKOenergy logo on the shelves of Finnish supermarkets: apple cider!

"We are committed to the principles of sustainable development, traceability and transparency. We continuously develop our production process in a more environmentally friendly direction. The switch to EKOenergy is a logical next step", told Jussi Laukkanen, CEO of Saimaan Juomatehdas in the online magazine "Viisi tähteä".

The international organisation Practical Action is providing Alpaca farmers in remote areas in Southern Peru with solar panels to light their homes. This also allows the farmers to power spinning equipment. As a result they can  produce high quality spun wool, which they can sell at a higher price than unspun wool. 

EKOenergy's Climate Fund has donated €5,000 euro to the project.

Practical Action focuses a lot on sharing of knowledge and experience to ensure that the benefits ripple out to other communities. They also work with local and subnational governments in the design and implementation of energy policies that promote renewable energy technologies to meet the demands of isolated communities.

"At NCC, the asphalt activities and mineral aggregate operations are powered with EKOenergy"

Laura Saraste-Mäkine, Senior Communications Officer at NCC, via twitter.

Ever more businesses are switching to EKOenergy, and proudly communicate about this.

In Spain, hotel El Gran Sueño - Asturias switched to EKOenergy. They get solar energy from Spain via Gesternova.

And so did gravestone manufacturer Mikkelin kiviveistämö from Finland. They buy their EKOenergy from the local EKOenergy supplier Etelä-Savon Energia.

Welcome to the energy revolution! 

We welcome old and new consumers to get in touch with us. We are happy to learn more about you and your expectations in regard to EKOenergy.

Summer is traditionally a time of coming and going at the EKOenergy Secretariat. Several of our long term volunteers and trainees have left, but many have been eagerly waiting to take over.

We thank our EVS-volunteers Ginevra Poli (IT), Lenka Kašová (CZ), Pavla Holečková (CZ), Ana Baudot (ES), Theresa Knechtel (DE), Gabriella Vangstrup (DK) and Katsiaryna Viadziorchyk (BY) for altogether 62 great and productive months.

The first newcomer is Vincenzo Bordino from Italy. 6 more volunteers and trainees are expected in the coming months.

Kaliningrad Regional Center of Environment, Local history and Tourism,  one of the members of the EKOenergy Network, organised a Climate Forum. There were discussions about the outcome of the COP 21 in Paris, about the perspectives for renewable energy development in the Kaliningrad region and about international cooperation.

On the second day of the Forum there was a training for “Climate Ambassadors”. Students discussed climate change and launched ideas about how to reduce our environmental impact and promote green solutions (such as Climate School Plans).

For more information about Kaliningrad Regional Center of Environment, Local history and Tourism and their many activities, click here (In Russian)

ExxonMobil — the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company — has had an interesting year. In September, two investigations by InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times revealed that the company’s own scientists had recognized the dangers posed by climate change as far back as 1977, and yet did nothing about it. Those revelations sparked a cascade of calls from politicians demanding an investigation into whether or not Exxon knowingly mislead shareholders, and the public, about climate change.

The increased public scrutiny, however, does not seem to be stopping Exxon from giving money to groups that actively fund climate misinformation and oppose climate legislation. According to Exxon’s most recent disclosures on donations — first reported on over at DeSmogBlog — the company donated more than half a million dollars to groups that have either campaigned against climate legislation or have spread misinformation about climate change.

Text by Natasha Geiling, copied from ClimateProgress / Picture: 350.org