Tahlia Nolan is Manager, Market Modelling and Policy, at Iberdrola Australia. Here she breaks down carbon offsetting and talks to My Net Zero about how you can get involved at home and at work.
"Carbon offsets won’t change emissions production at the source, but just try and compensate for them, whereas LGCs change the supply of electricity to stop the production of emissions in the first place.”
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Who is Iberdrola?
Tahlia: Iberdrola is a global energy leader, with more than 170 years of history. Iberdrola has decarbonisation at its core and is the leading wind power producer and one of the largest electricity companies in the world. Iberdrola has been anticipating the global energy transition for the last 20 years, contributing to creating sustainable value to society. A truly remarkable achievement is that 74.3% of Iberdrola’s owned installed capacity is renewable assets. That totals 38,000MW - greater than the entire Australia’s entire National Electricity Market’s peak demand. -
What is a Renewable Energy Certificate?
Tahlia: A renewable energy certificate is created when a megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity is generated and delivered into our electricity grid from a renewable energy source. They are a market-based instrument (meaning the price and production are controlled naturally by supply and demand) and are used to account for and incentivise renewable energy generation. In Australia, the main renewable energy certificates are Large-Scale Generation certificates (LGCs). Demand for LGCs comes from two sources - mandated government schemes, such as the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target, and voluntary schemes like Green the Team.
By purchasing and voluntarily surrendering an LGC, you can claim ownership of the renewable generation that created that certificate, and hence that your electricity use is sourced from renewable energy. It is guaranteed to be additional energy delivered because of your purchase decision. -
Is that a form of offsetting?
Tahlia: Yes, but it is not a carbon offset, it is offsetting electricity use from a fossil fuel source.
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How does it differ from other forms of offsetting?
Tahlia: LGCs differ from other forms of offsetting because they account for and drive a change in the supply mix of electricity production. The more renewable energy certificates produced, the higher the electricity production from renewable energy sources, and this reduces the emissions produced from electricity generation.
A carbon offset on the other hand may reduce or remove carbon emissions to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. However, a carbon offset won’t change the level of renewable energy production, instead it will compensate for the emissions produced by fossil fuel generators. Carbon offsets won’t change emissions production at the source, but just try and compensate for them, whereas LGCs change the supply of electricity to stop the production of emissions in the first place. -
How can I get involved at home?
Tahlia: There are a couple of other ways to get involved at home too, my advice is this:- Buy renewable energy certificates – you can offset the electricity you use in your home with renewable energy certificates (LGCs). When you do this, it is guaranteeing that for the electricity you used, an equivalent amount of renewable energy was delivered into the electricity grid. They may not be the same electrons delivered to your home, but it is a sure way to increase the overall supply of renewable energy in the grid, which directly displaces higher emission generators. If everyone purchased 100% renewable energy then the whole electricity grid would be 100% renewable!
- Using less electricity – this doesn’t mean being hot on a hot summer's day, but rather looking for more energy efficient ways to deliver the same result! Like heat pumps for hot water, switching to LED lightbulbs, or better insulation for your home.
- Rooftop solar – buying renewable energy straight from the source and less from the grid which has high emissions from coal generators
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Tell us about Green the Team?
Tahlia: Green the Team was born from the office floor - our staff at Iberdrola Australia wanted to become more sustainable by offsetting the emissions from their home electricity use. Marcus Dorreen - (General Manager Energy Portfolio and Carbon Markets) and I, over a beer, brainstormed the idea to purchase LGCs that were being produced directly from the wind farms we were working with every day and surrender them for an annual electricity use. We pitched this idea to our CEO and CFO at the time, and they loved the idea, in fact they committed Iberdrola Australia in going halves with staff on the cost to go green at home. From there it has grown in maturity, we have been running it at Iberdrola Australia for four years and have developed it into a product we can take to other businesses, and now in partnership with My Net Zero.
Green the Team is a sustainability initiative in collaboration with your employer that provides you a cheap and easy way to offset your home electricity consumption using renewables. You nominate how much electricity you would like to offset for the program year and your employer organises for an equivalent amount of renewable energy certificates ( RECs) to be voluntarily surrendered, which under Green the Team is referred to as a renewable energy offset. The process is simple. It takes a few minutes to sign up, the one-off cost is deducted from your salary and there is no need for you to change your electricity retailer at home.
Our Q&As with climate leaders are short, sweet, and educational because, let’s face it - we don’t have much time to save the planet. Do you have a lesson to share with the My Net Zero community? Get in touch at the link above.
Green the Team is a staff benefit program providing a cheap way for your staff to offset their home electricity usage with renewables (with no change to their current retailer).
Iberdrola is working in partnership with My Net Zero to expand Green the Team and offer this service to businesses all around the world, enabling all employees the opportunity to offset their home electricity usage and green the grid. For more information drop us a line at hello@mynetzero.earth
