Learning New Energy Habits

Description | Indicators | Scoring Criteria | Definitions | Issues

Embodied Energy: Represents the net energy consumed or produced during the extraction or harvesting of the raw material, its processing, and the manufacture of a product. Includes energy consumed from electrical power, natural gas, liquid petroleum gas, fuel oil, heating oil, and renewable energy sources.

Green-E: A leading renewable electricity certification program administered by the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions. The program certifies electricity products, including renewable energy programs, according to consumer protection and environmental criteria established in Green-E energy standards. Certified products include energy products purchased through local green energy programs, and energy offset programs such as Tradeable Renewable Certificates.

Local Renewable Energy Projects: Renewable energy projects that are onsite at the manufacturing facility or located within 50 miles or onsite or fleet use of renewable sourced fuels, such as biodiesel or ethanol. Offsets are excluded.

Non Renewable Manufacturing Energy: Includes all energy used on site at the primary manufacturing facility other than that from local renewable energy projects. This includes grid electricity and all delivered fuels, including fuels used by vehicles and other mobile energy consumers associated with the site.

Renewable Energy: is energy produced by conversion of materials are regenerated on short (ten year or under) time scales (such as biofuels from agricultural products) or conversion of energy flows that are not depleted by their use (such as wind energy). Renewable energy sources include wind, solar, tides, low head hydro, geothermal, , and biomass including biofuels. It does not include large scale hydropower or municipal or industrial waste-to-energy type processes. In general, renewables have lower environmental impacts than non-renewables.

Renewable Energy Projects: Qualifying projects include both projects that capture solar, wind, hydro or tidal power of projects that utilize renewable fuels. Projects for both on-site mobile (such as biodiesel for trucks) and stationary consumption (such as photovoltaics for equipment may qualify.

Supply chain embodied energy: embodied energy up to but not including the Manufacturing Facility total energy usage.

Tradable Renewable Certificates: Also known as energy offsets, represent purchases of renewable energy from green energy providers that displace energy on the national grid that is otherwise produced from non-renewable sources. Certificates are typically purchased by companies that operate in an area where energy from renewable resources is not available.

Renewable Energy Resources:

The following resources may be helpful to companies seeking to submit product information for certification:
• Green E- Renewable Energy certification program www.green-e.org/
• Terrachoice- Canadian Green Energy certification www.environmentalchoice.com
• Eugene- European Renewable energy certification program www.eugenestandard.org

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