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Renewable energy certificates at Meetings Africa
The Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) system allows users to consume electricity in one part of the country and ‘trade' this usage against a green power source. This was done at the recent Meetings Africa show by Scan Display, which powered its exhibition stand this way. This is reportedly the first time that an individual exhibitor has used renewable energy for its stand's lighting and electrical appliances.
GreenX Energy, a Cape-based company that pioneered the concept of RECs in the South African market during the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, supplied the REC to Scan Display, which indirectly supported a solar photovoltaic generator in northern KwaZulu-Natal and had zero electricity-related carbon emissions.
REC system
The REC system has been used for over a decade in Europe, the US and Australia. It is gaining support in South Africa as the Department of Energy assists in developing the approach and local business becomes committed to green practices. RECs are normally denominated in 1MWh units and Scan used one REC to power its 9m² stand for the three days of the show. One REC would have been sufficient to power 12 more identical stands for the three days of the show, but RECs are not divisible.
The REC cost Scan R350, which the company's MD, Justin Hawes, considers a nominal expense to pay for the benefit of using green power. Hawes says, “The REC system is a relatively inexpensive way of reducing the carbon emissions of your event or exhibition's energy consumption, without having to resort to planting trees.”
In future, the company will be in a position to supply certified green power to its clients routinely and at an even lower price, pending an agreement with GreenX Energy.
Event Greening Forum
Hawes has a special interest in greening and sustainability, as he was instrumental in the recent formation of the Event Greening Forum, a group established to promote sustainability in the South African events industry. The group's objective is to create awareness of the need for greening in the meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions and events industries.
For more information about the Event Greening Forum, go to www.eventgreening.co.za and to www.greenxenergy.com for more on RECs.
