DrFfybes wrote:It's the same electrons coming down the same wires from the same sources. The difference is the suppliers simply fudge who they buy their electrons from and how they source them, you're still buying electrons made from dead dinosaurs, and buying a green tariff has no difference to how energy is generated on a National scale.
A decade ago I had some business dealings with a number of large chemical companies who ran thermal power stations using the waste heat from their industrial processes. At the time the rules in play allowed them to do what was called a 'green for brown' swap, whereby the electricity they generated from their industrial processes was notionally exported to the grid to counter the electricity that that plant was using from the grid.
In reality of course no electricity went anywhere and that coming out of the thermal power station was being used on-site, and all that was leaving were the pieces of paper certifying the the generation of 'green' electricity to be sold to the grid and the utilities for the consumers wanting renewable electricity.
Although the rules have changed and no longer permit such a 'green for brown' swap, I am sure that the minds that thought that scheme up haven't given up on thinking up new ones.