Textile companies can use I-RECs to document renewable energy consumption

ECOHZ supplies renewable energy to electricity providers, businesses, and organizations. The Company provides renewable electricity generated from hydropower, wind power, biomass, solar power, and geothermal sources. ECOHZ also offers renewable energy from environmentally certified power plants.

Tom Lindberg, Managing Director, ECOHZ, speaks on the company’s contribution to the sustainability of the textile industry.

Excerpts…

Your comments on ECOHZ’s contribution to the sustainability of the textile industry.

The textile industry has a long and complex value chain with numerous suppliers and plants of different sizes and with markets in various continents. Every stage of the textile industry’s supply chain is energy-intensive from processing yarn, producing fabric, and fabricating textiles – to transporting and selling clothes to customers. Together these stages in the value chain consume a significant amount of energy which lead to substantial greenhouse gas emissions.

Transforming the garment sector to run on renewable energy is vital for a more sustainable society. Customers are also increasingly concerned with how their clothes are made. Therefore, fashion, designerand retail companies are working to reduce their carbon footprint. Using renewable energy in their operations and supply chain is an important step to achieve this. H&M, Marks and Spencer, Burberry and Nike are just four of more than 219 influential companies that have joined the collaborative global RE100 initiative, sharing a commitment to use 100 per cent renewable energy to power all their global operations.

In India, the textile industry constitutes 14 per cent of the total industry production and 4 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP). It is also the second largest employer securing work for 35 million people. Given the increasing demands from consumers, the increasing competition in the market and the textile industry’s role in India, the industry should document that the energy it consumes comes from renewable energy sources. The textile industry and their suppliers can do so with international RECs (I-RECs).

Which industry has shown a good response to ECOHZ? What has the response been from the textile industry?

Accelerating the transition to renewable energy is central to reversing climate change. Thousands of companies are acting and switching to renewables for their own electricity consumption. ECOHZ helps several industries document their renewable energy consumption.

Industries with complex supply chains are increasingly recognising the emissions and are taking responsibility for their supply chains. CDP’s Global Supply Chain Report 2019 stated that emissions in the supply chain are on average 5.5 times as high as those from direct operations. More big buyers, also in the textile industry, are therefore looking to document the renewable energy used in these supply chains.

There are two examples I would like to highlight. Firstly, in Europe ECOHZ has worked with H&M that wanted to do even more than just commit to renewable energy. ECOHZ therefore developed a renewable energy product called GO², which combines the purchase of documented renewable power with the financing and building of new renewable power capacity. H&M has contributed to the construction of a new wind park.

Secondly, Nike. Through a new partnership with Iberdrola, an industry leader in the global clean energy economy, Nike will begin sourcing 100 percent renewable energy in Europe. Along with previouslylaunched partnerships between Nike and Avangrid (a subsidiary of Iberdrola) in North America, this new power purchase agreement (CPPA) will enable Nike to reach 75 per cent renewable energy globally. This partnership catapults Nike ahead of the timeline that was outlined three years ago when Nike joined RE100. Beyond these renewable energy commitments, Nike is also working to encourage broader adoption of clean renewable energy across their supply chain, as part of an effort to control all emissions.

Where does India currently stand and what is the potential of solar power utilisation in the textile industry?

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. This growth has increased India’senergy demand and worsened their carbon footprint significantly. Transforming India into a greener and more environmentally-friendly economy will among many things require a massive transformation to renewable energy. Initially India set a renewable capacity target of 175 GW by 2022, but the target has now increased to 450 GW*. This indicates the government’s commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve these targets several projects such as solar panels on trains have been initiated. There are clearly huge opportunities for the textile industry to leverage the government’s commitment and the consumers’ expectations to renewable energy production and consumption.

Solar power is one of the renewable energy sources that India is focusing on. India enjoyed a staggering 127 per cent market growth, from 4.3 GW installed PV capacity in 2016 to 9.6 GW PV capacity in 2017*.The growth is exponential andin 2019 the installed solar capacity in India had already reached 31.6 GW. Today rooftop solar power accounts for 2.1 GW, of which 70 per cent is industrial or commercial*. With these trends, it is expected that the textile industry increasingly starts to use and document its renewable energy consumption, specifically from solar power.

What are International RECs (I-RECs) and how can this help the textile industry to be more attractive? Companies can document and report that the energy they consume comes from renewable energy sources with the following Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs): Guarantees of Origin (GOs) in Europe, RECs in North America and International RECs (I-RECs) in a growing number of countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, including India. Similar to a REC certificate and a Guarantee of Origin, each I-REC represents proof that 1 MWh of renewable energy has been produced and includes the environmental benefits this renewable energy has generated.

I-RECs are an effective and recognised tool to document companies’ reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improve their sustainability rating. A textile or apparel company can use I-RECs to document their renewable energy consumption. In this way they send an important signal to the market aboutenvironmental leadership – that the company chooses to consume renewable energy and is changing energy behaviour.

ECOHZ is a leading global provider of renewable energy solutions

Sources

https://www.dw.com/en/can-india-realize-its-ambitious-renewable-energy-targets/a-51085629

https://www.solarpowereurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Global-Market-Outlook-2018-2022.pdf

https://www.bluebirdsolar.com/media-centre/blog/93-why-are-corporates-adopting-solar-energy