How do you know you're buying green energy?

Last week at Cisco’s C-Scape conference, one of the execs was asked a tricky question after he boasted that the company (in the UK) gets 100 per cent of its energy from renewable (wind) sources.

Chris Dedicoat, president of European markets for Cisco, said he did not know how you ensure the green electricity you buy is 100 per cent green, as it still comes through the electricity grid.

“We will pay a premium for that. We think it’s the right thing to do.”

That’s a tough one to measure. BT goes out of its way to buy green energy. But it’s not like you can see measure that it comes directly from wind turbines. You wouldn’t see any difference in the result – electricty is electricty.

Greenbang thinks there is massive potential to con the public here. Of course, there’s trust and there must be compliance regulations to make these things legit and transparent etc – but who would look at that? Who would ensure that the green energy you buy is made from renewable sources?

Answers on a postcard.