2016 was a successful year for EKOenergy. We are particularly happy about our many concrete actions to promote renewable electricity and to help nature. Several of these are highlighted further down in item 4 and item 5 of this newsletter.
We continue to grow, too. We launched the label in Estonia, Luxembourg, Sweden. Now more and more EKOenergy consumers start using our logo in their own communication (E.g. on products made with EKOenergy)
We wish all of you a healthy and energetic year and we hope that we will have the opportunity to cooperate and strengthen each other.
Some of the items on EKOenergy's to-do list are:
- Starting the EKOenergy ecolabel for renewable gas in March
- Financing at least 4 more climate projects through our Climate Fund and 3 more river restoration projects through our Environmental Fund
- Updating our criteria, in particular with regard to hydropower
- Doubling the amount of energy sold with our label and strengthening the cooperation with EKOenergy consumers, in particular large, international users
- Setting up many new campaigns and actions to promote a 100% renewable and sustainable world.
If any of these catch your attention, or if you have any other ideas or proposals, feel free to contact us any time.
"I hope that 2017 will be the year in which considerably more companies and households will move from theory and good intentions to action. There are 2 important drivers for that: After the elections in the USA it is again very clear that we shouldn’t expect too much from political decisions. And secondly, renewables are now just cheaper than fossils."
The city of Lappeenranta has launched a campaign to inform the public about the city's ecological choices, and to encourage people to take action themselves too.
EKOenergy got a very visible place in the campaign.
Lappeenranta is the first city in the world using EKOenergy. Now, they ask others to follow their example. See http://vihrealupaus.greenreality.fi/ (website in Finnish).
Thanks a lot, Lappeenranta! Together for a 100% renewable and sustainable world.
4. Climate Fund: greetings from Tanzania and Peru
For each MWh of EKOenergy sold, the seller contributes at least 0.10€ to EKOenergy's Climate Fund. With this money we finance renewable energy projects.
Just before New Year, we got the final report and nice pictures from two of the (five) projects we financed in 2015
Pictures of our projects are downloadable from EKOenergy's flickr account. (The pictures of the Peruvian project will be uploaded as soon as we get them in high resolution).
We are now selecting the climate projects for 2017. We got over 350 applications, and 45 are still in the running. We would like to finance all of them, but this is unfortunately not possible. The more EKOenergy grows, the more impact we can have via our Climate Fund. Companies interested in sponsoring energy projects in specific areas or with specific target groups can contact us any time.
"100x100madera, biological and passive houses, now made with 100% renewable energy: EKOenergy "
5. Successful restoration activities in the river Virojoki
For every MWh of hydropower sold as EKOenergy, the seller pays 0.10€ to EKOenergy's environmental fund.
In 2015, we donated 10,000 euro from the Fund to a project to preserve and revitalise salmon stocks in Southeastern Finland. The activities took place from mid 2015 to the autumn of 2016. Last week, we got a very impressive final report.
In 2016, the project focused on restoring spawning areas in the Virojoki. The activities took place in close cooperation with the landowners and with fishermen. There was also money for monitoring of the impact. The first results are very encouraging.
Riku Eskelinen, who had been heading EKOenergy's Secretariat together with Steven Vanholme, became head of the Projects Team of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. He remains contact person for the Freshabit LIFE project, in which EKOenergy is actively involved.
Thanks a lot Riku for all these years of hard work!
At the same time we welcome Ms Virpi Sahi, who will be EKOenergy's Environmental Director. She has been working for about 20 years on environmental and nature protection at several Finnish organisations. At EKOenergy, she will be mainly in charge of our hydropower and bioenergy related work.
The oil industry must brace for five energy “tsunamis” that threaten to drag prices as low as $10 a barrel in less than a decade, according to Engie SA’s innovation chief.
The falling cost of solar power and battery storage, rising sales of electric vehicles, increasingly “smart” buildings and cheap hydrogen will all weigh on crude, Thierry Lepercq, head of research, technology and innovation at the French energy company, said in an interview.
“Even if oil demand continues to climb until 2025, its price could drop to $10 if markets anticipate a significant fall in demand,” Lepercq said at his office near Paris.
“Solar, battery storage, electrical and hydrogen vehicles, and connected devices are in a ‘J’ curve,” he said. “Hydrogen is the missing link in a 100 percent renewable-energy system, but technological bricks already exist.”
We at EKOenergy are always looking to grow our network. If you want more information about becoming a partner of ours, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
2016 was a successful year for EKOenergy. We are particularly happy about our many concrete actions to promote renewable electricity and to help nature. Several of these are highlighted further down in item 4 and item 5 of this newsletter.
We wish all of you a healthy and energetic year and we hope that we will have the opportunity to cooperate and strengthen each other.
The city of Lappeenranta has launched a campaign to inform the public about the city's ecological choices, and to encourage people to take action themselves too.
For each MWh of EKOenergy sold, the seller contributes at least 0.10€ to EKOenergy's Climate Fund. With this money we finance renewable energy projects.
For every MWh of hydropower sold as EKOenergy, the seller pays 0.10€ to EKOenergy's environmental fund.
Riku Eskelinen, who had been heading EKOenergy's Secretariat together with Steven Vanholme, became head of the Projects Team of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. He remains contact person for the Freshabit LIFE project, in which EKOenergy is actively involved.
The oil industry must brace for five energy “tsunamis” that threaten to drag prices as low as $10 a barrel in less than a decade, according to Engie SA’s innovation chief.
