EVERYONE WOULD RATHER THEIR ENERGY CAME FROM RENEWABLES, RIGHT?
Unfortunately, that’s a bit of a problem here in the UK. There simply isn’t enough being generated for everyone to be powered by wind, waves or solar – at least, not yet.
Although you wouldn’t think it when you see “100% green” claims from some energy companies, would you? That’s because some of them aren’t telling the whole truth.
How do they get away with it?
Well, they sell you energy, and then separately buy a certificate (called a REGO – a Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin) that lets them tell you the energy you bought came from a renewable source. Sounds good, right – after all, it’s a “guarantee”!
But the problem is the bit of paper that says the energy is ‘renewable’ can be bought and sold separately to the actual renewable energy. This means if the energy and the certificate are split and sold separately – as they often are – someone else could be using ‘your’ renewable energy, your power could be from anywhere, and some market trader middleman is getting rich by taking a cut. And no certificate on the planet can make coal or gas renewable, whatever it says on it. It’s greenwashing, pure and simple.
We could do that too. We could buy REGOs and tell you we’re 100% renewable. But that’s misleading, and it’s not the Rebel Way. So we reject that gimmick, and are offering you an alternative that we think – for now – is a better way.
Instead, we take the same amount of money we would spend on REGOs, and give it to a charity called Rebel Restoration (although it was founded by the original Rebels, it’s now completely independent).
We ask that charity to use the money to fund projects that trap carbon and restore the environment in a way that really addresses the damage caused by energy generation. We think this is much better than pretending our energy is green, even if it’s not.
It’s an imperfect solution. But, for now – and until more renewable energy is generated in the UK, or the industry changes so companies can’t pretend REGOs make their energy green – we think it’s the best way.
If it’s not right, we won’t do it. That’s the Rebel Way.
REBEL WITH US
REBEL RESTORATION
As long as you have a gas cooker, we’ll supply the energy to keep it going. But we want a world without fossil fuels. Until there’s enough renewable energy available to make that happen, we’ll do what we can to remove carbon from the atmosphere and lock it up for good.
That’s why we set up Rebel Restoration. We give the charity money for every new Rebel that joins us, and every unit of energy you use.
So far, we’ve put around £1million into Rebel Restoration.
We’re backing projects that trap carbon, restore nature, and empower communities. It’s a bold and unconventional approach, but we believe it’s the right path. It’s about making daring choices for the benefit of our planet. It’s the Rebel Way.
