BRUSSELS - Electricity bills showing how and where the electricity was produced could become a reality across the European Union by the end of 2003 under a scheme unveiled last week by firms promoting renewable energy.
EU firms champion green electricity plan
Some 170 companies and 13 of the 15 EU member states have signed up to the Renewable Energy Certification System (RECS), which issues \"proof of origin\" certificates to firms producing electricity in environmentally-friendly ways.
\"The certificate system makes it possible to track the renewable energy and see who has paid for it,\" said Marjolein Quene, head of RECS.
RECS is a system of national authorities which would issue a unique certificate to prove where, when and how electricity was produced. The certificate could then be bought by somebody wanting to buy energy from a certain source.
\"The question of whether the certificates should be traded in the future is up to governments,\" said Quene.
Under EU law, all member states must have a system for guaranteeing the origin of electricity by October 2003.
Phil Moody, secretary general of RECS\'s issuing bodies, said demand for the certificates would come from \"green\" laws which forced firms to buy renewable energy and from consumers wanting to do their bit for the environment.
\"This enables a market for renewable energy to be created, so promoting the development of new renewable energy capacity in Europe,\" RECS said in a statement.
RECS\'s members include Electrabel , Electricite de France , TotalFinaElf , RWE Energie , E.ON Trading , Edison SpA , BP Gas and Power and Shell International Renewables .
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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