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Invented by Enron in 1997 to make their acquisition of the Zond wind energy company profitable, renewable energy certificates (RECs, called “green tags” by Enron and “renewables obligation certificates” [ROCs] in many countries) represent the “environmental benefit” of electricity sources deemed to be “green”. They are sold apart from and in addition to the actual energy. | Invented by Enron in 1997<ref>[https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/37388.pdf] “Emerging Markets for | ||
Renewable Energy Certificates: Opportunities and Challenges”, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2005</ref> to make their acquisition of the Zond wind energy company profitable, renewable energy certificates (RECs, called “green tags” by Enron and “renewables obligation certificates” [ROCs] in many countries) represent the “environmental benefit” of electricity sources deemed to be “green”. They are sold apart from and in addition to the actual energy. | |||
The RECs allow their buyer to claim that their electricity comes from that specific source, even though all sources feed into the vast pool of the [[electrical grid]] and every user on that grid gets their electricity from the same mix of sources. | The RECs allow their buyer to claim that their electricity comes from that specific source, even though all sources feed into the vast pool of the [[electrical grid]] and every user on that grid gets their electricity from the same mix of sources. |