ASKTALKING THE EXPERTS POINT

The bigger picture: builds a brand

One of wind’s biggest challenges has always been obtaining ‘buy-in’ from the consumer. But this looks set to change with the launch of a major new initiative that will soon see a ‘WindMade’ logo emblazoned on dozens of household products. It worked for Fairtrade and organic food, but will it work for wind?

At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland, the WindMade logo and organisation was finally unveiled. The non-profit-making consortium’s enviable mission is to encourage global corporations to make their widgets using eco-friendly renewable wind energy, and the new eco- label will identify wind-produced products and bring the actions of socially-responsible corporations to motivated consumers, thereby also helping to raise the profile of the world’s renewables industry. At least, that’s the idea. Among the initial signatories to the consortium are: The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), World Wildlife Fund, (WWF) the LEGO Group, the UN their commitment to , being to drive the development of new wind Global Compact, Wind Systems, consumers currently have no way of power plants, over and above what would PricewaterhouseCoopers (the Official verifying the source of the energy used. be developed anyway. WindMade will now offer them the WindMade Verification Partner) and “It is crucial that the WindMade criteria live up Bloomberg (the Official Data Provider to transparency they require for making informed choices. to the high standards necessary for the label WindMade). to serve consumers’ desire to make tangible As Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of “We want to build a bridge between impact and boost clean renewables. We GWEC and interim CEO of WindMade, consumers and companies committed believe that voluntary certification is one key said: “The WindMade initiative is a direct to clean energy, and give consumers to raising the bar for mainstream performance. response to increasing consumer demand the option to choose more sustainable We hope to see WindMade develop into a for sustainable products. Governments are products. We hope that this will create a good example of a standard for corporations dragging their feet but consumers want to strong element of consumer pull which to close the gap between ambition and reality see change now. The private sector needs will accelerate the pace of wind energy in the important area of renewable energy,” to step up to provide the solutions we need development globally,” said Ditlev Engel, said James Leape, Director General of WWF. to respond to the global energy and climate CEO and President of Vestas Wind “This is the first time we can connect to crises. With WindMade, we want to facilitate Systems who pioneered the WindMade consumers; something we’ve wanted to the change that the public demands.” initiative. “We strongly encourage forward- looking companies to join us in this effort,” do for a long time,” added Georg Kell, A global survey of more than 25,000 he added. Executive Director of UN Global Compact. consumers across 20 markets showed “As a market-based solution supportive of the that 92 per cent of respondents believed The WindMade consortium hopes to attract Global Compact’s mission, WindMade has renewable energy to be a good solution to leading consumer brands as members. the potential to be a strong force in advancing mitigating climate change. And if presented To use the WindMade label for their the use of renewable energy by business communications or products, WindMade with a choice most would prefer products everywhere.” members will be expected to undergo a made with wind energy, even at a premium, certification process to verify their wind The consortium stresses six guiding principles the survey found. energy procurement. The standard for for development of the standard: commitment, However, while many companies have certification is currently being developed effectiveness, transparency, credibility, already made bold statements about by a technical expert group with the aim practicality and flexibility. Along with consumer

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labelling, launching on June 15th – Global WindMade should improve a corporation’s Resources facility in Iowa, as well as investing Wind Day – a ranking for global corporate global and environmental impact while in an ambitious plan to erect a 350-mile stretch renewable energy procurement is also distinguishing itself with consumers. of wind turbines in shallow waters about 10 planned as part of a multi-tiered programme. miles off the Atlantic coast. Strong, steady sea The WindMade label’s certification criteria and This will monitor and make public information winds will deliver energy via underwater cables standards will be in development from March about major corporations’ use of renewable and ultimately help to relieve an overly-taxed to May of this year. Under the direction of a energy to be posted on WindMade.Org, the U.S. grid system. technical committee, with representatives consortium’s planned website. Additionally, from WWF, Vestas, and PwC, the committee The WindMade team’s new resolve promises to a WindMade foundation is planned, to offer will gather feedback from the general be an important contribution for the prevention corporations opportunities to increase wind public including potential participants in the of global climate change through wind energy energy access in developing and emerging WindMade programme as well as energy and the promotion of resource efficiency and markets where it is most needed. experts. energy security. The founding members, whose So is the ambitious move – which includes the expressed post-Davos mission is to recruit There are a number of companies already launch of an attractive swirly blue WindMade more international recruits, recognise that the doing their bit for a greener, more sustainable label later this year – likely to make a substantial time has come to put the world on a quicker future. Google, for instance have already had ideological difference around the world? path towards a sustainable future, based a good deal of publicity for their expressed Corporations previously reluctant to invest in around renewable energy. There seems little ambition to become a carbon-neutral company. green energy due to short-term energy policy doubt now that green energy is well placed are likely to see the initiative as an effective way Last summer, the multinational, which depends to drive the modern economy, secure a safer of proactively engaging with a better-informed upon substantial quantities of electricity to climate, and provide a sustainable planet for consumer. Also, in addition to increasing wind power its online services, bought 114 MW our children and for our children’s children. energy use by corporations and organisations, of wind generation at the NextEra Energy Watch this space …

94 PES: Europe TALKING POINT

Morten Albaek, the Senior Vice President of Denmark-based Vestas was recently interviewed by The Daily Beast about the development of the WindMade label. Here, we present a selection his responses.

It’s been two years since you began at Before I came to Vestas, Ditlev Engel, had idea, pioneered it, invested the resources Vestas. How is wind energy doing today? this vision of engaging with consumers and in it, and made it come true. But it’s very MA: Wind only represents something like citizens. Then Cop 15 happened (the 2009 important to us that this now is a shared two to three per cent of the global electricity U.N. Climate Change Conference). Its goal initiative. was to renegotiate a global agreement about consumption. So it’s a fairly small energy We are just one of its seven founding CO2 emissions. Incredible hopes were built source compared to the conventional partners who have a vote and have up, but few were realised. sources. Globally, we could have easily 20 endorsed this initiative. What is interesting to 30 per cent of all electricity coming from After that we concluded that we no longer is that GWEC, the Global Wind Energy wind. So there’s a huge potential, but the could solely depend on the political system Council, represents the Siemens, the GEs, uncertainty of political support to make to make the necessary decisions. We needed the Gamesas — which is 99 per cent of all wind fully realise its potential is hurting to go further up the value chain. Ultimately, installed wind capacity on the planet. This the business. Wind needs to become as politicians are motivated by what consumers means that all our competitors are now also competitive as any other energy source, and and citizens, or what I call citi-sumers, expect involved in WindMade through GWEC. so its cost is extremely important. We’re not from them. Now the question was how to looking for more support than anyone else, engage with the citi-sumers. We recognised So as Vestas benefits, so too will we simply need to know what to expect, not that Vestas was too small and we didn’t everyone else? just for a 12-month period, but a five or 15- have the bandwidth or the communication MA: Exactly. If this were just a Vestas year period, so we can run our business like channels to do it ourselves. We needed to initiative, it would never ever succeed others do. In fact, the amount of money that activate the B2C (business-to-consumer) because somebody would say: “We want has been given by governments to oil, gas, giants because they’re actually the ones to support the deployment of wind energy and nuclear over the last 20 years is several that have the strongest impact on and direct across the globe and be as much of an ally times higher than the energy subsidies that access to the influential and growing global of Siemens, GE, and Gamesa, as we are of were given to wind in the same time period. middle class. So how could we actually Vestas”. create a new design that could build a bridge Everybody knows that oil is something that How does the WindMade label clarify for we only have for so long a time, whereas between Vestas and the whole wind industry the consumer who is doing what with wind is something that we actually have providing knowledge to the consumers about wind energy? forever if we have all the technology to the benefits of wind? harvest it. So wind has to continue to reduce MA: Very little about what a large On a Scandinavian Airlines flight to Beijing, its cost. Vestas has repeatedly reduced it corporation’s energy mix looks like is I noticed that the airline was a sponsor for in five-year periods by 30 per cent and we available to the public, so the consumer Save the Children. Then it came to me: continue to every year. And, because of that, is currently blindfolded. With WindMade, “Imagine if they had gotten the idea 65 years we expect that wind will be competitive with you’ll be able to say how many products ago. Imagine if it actually was a corporation conventional energy sources around 2020. are based 100 per cent on wind. There are that had pioneered what later grew to some, and presumably many, but it’s not The marketplace is also changing become the world’s largest independent information that is currently available to the dramatically. Many new players are entering children’s rights organisation. Why not?” consumer. They may see some renewable the wind market like GE, Siemens, Samsung, Now I wanted to see if it was possible for labels, but there doesn’t exist any consumer and some of the big South Korean and Vestas to be, if not the first, then one of the label for a single energy source. French industrial conglomerates. They first corporations on the planet that could see the potential economic upside, so it’s create an NGO from the bottom and then In our dreams, we want to have a label a business that will grow extremely fast. give it back to civil society. For me, that for WindMade, one for solar-made, one Vestas, however, is the only corporation that would be a new order of social responsibility. for thermal-made, and actually bring the for 31 years has done nothing but develop So we conducted a survey and tested the percentage of renewable use up to as close wind technology and it’s the only corporation WindMade idea. to 100 per cent. Why aren’t there any coal- where 22,000 employees wake up every day made and nuclear-made trustmarks? If the Tell us a little about the initiative, and how on five continents and only focus on that. consumer saw products with such labels, it it works… would, for sure, change its preferences. What was the tipping point of the MA: WindMade is an NGO that “owns” a new WindMade project? consumer label of the same name and runs Was there ever the idea to consolidate MA: Vestas tried for years to communicate a foundation that, through donations and and create one global trustmark for all the benefits of wind to the general public: the membership fees, will accumulate funds that renewables? investments we made were high; the results will be donated to the deployment of wind MA: If you want to succeed in what we were fairly poor. So, we needed a new path. energy in developing nations. Vestas got the were trying to do, it’s also about keeping

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something this big simple. I can tell you we are now extremely confident that we have created “WindMade is an NGO that “owns” a new consumer something that has the potential of being here label of the same name and runs a foundation in 30 to 40 years. There are now six global trustmarks like FairTrade Certified and Not that, through donations and membership fees, Tested on Animals, and this comes in the same tradition, but it’s very different in many ways. will accumulate funds that will be donated to the What we are saying to our colleagues in deployment of wind energy in developing nations…” the other renewable energy sectors is that Morten Albaek, they can take all the knowledge that we Senior Vice President, Vestas have created and use it to create their own trustmarks – free-of-charge from an open- source perspective. Because we need all corporations, NGOs, and citizen groups to thing you need to provide is transparency. And other renewable energy sources to change the give us advice and review the criteria for in that meeting between intelligence of the energy base to something truly sustainable WindMade, after which we will launch the growing middle class and facts, enlightenment for the planet. We can’t do it all with wind. trustmark. To make it transparent, we are will occur and behaviour will change. But wind is like the caring big brother in the asking: “Have we forgotten anything? Is there schoolyard, leading the way with the most WindMade is not going to save the world. It something we should tweak?” At the close of mature renewable energy source, the lowest is simply too small an initiative to do that and this period, the founding partners will sign off cost of energy, the least consumption of no one action will ever succeed in that. But on the final criteria and we’ll officially launch water, and so forth. But the others will come, WindMade can hopefully be an inspiration the trustmark. and we will celebrate them when they do. to a new way for companies to think and innovate. What really is it? Is it PR? Is it a How is WindMade going to address Will PwC be WindMade’s consumer business development? Is it sustainability? consumer scepticism, as in, for example, watchdog along with WWF? Is it philanthropy? Is it marketing? Is it CSR? green washing? MA: PricewaterhouseCoopers will be the first We could say it’s all of those things because global certifier of WindMade certificates. The MA: Green washing is when you actually WindMade is fundamentally a new design that WWF, actually the world’s largest NGO in the have so little renewable energy in what we have developed that’s never been done sustainability space, will fulfil a very important you do, and then paint yourself green. before. I think it can be applied to everything, role and has been offered a seat on the board WindMade is, for sure, a way of reducing and hopefully create a thousand equivalents to and everyone who knows WWF knows that green washing because it is so simple, it is WindMade in other areas besides energy. so focused; it’s just wind. The FTC’s (Federal they are extremely independent; they are there Trade Commission) recently-revised Green to ensure that everything is run by the book. What are your greatest hopes following Davos? Guide is also stating that in moving ahead You have some innovative ideas as to with all advertising, if you refer to anything how to effectively communicate with MA: My greatest hopes, while not being as being green, you must be specific about consumers… official targets, are that we have 100 what energy source it is that you are using. corporate WindMade members by the end MA: Well, I don’t think that running traditional WindMade helps because if you are green of this year and that the organisation will be consumer campaigns have shown that they’ve and if you are doing something, then you economically capable of sustaining itself after made any hit records in the last 20 years. don’t need to say you’re green, you can just a couple of years. say: “We’re WindMade”. You can’t find any They’ve either been too educational in their PES would like to thank WindMade, label more transparent for consumers. It’s flavour or too glossy and bling-bling. There’s TheDailyBeast.com and Vestas. just about how much wind has been used to actually a third way. Not to be confused with America’s Tea Party, there’s another kind To find out more about the initiative, produce a product. Soon we’ll be able say if visit: www.windmade.org it’s 12 per cent, 80 per cent, 100 per cent, and of T.E.A. that the world needs to have and it the consumer can make up their mind whether stands for transparency, enlightenment, and they think 12 per cent is a lot, or 100 per cent activation. I really believe in the middle-class is the only thing that matters to them. consumer community of the planet — whether they are in Beijing, Rio, Mumbai or Berlin. The criteria for the trustmark certification Because educational levels are progressing, are currently in development? there have never been more people on the MA: Yes. There will be a public consultation planet with the ability to understand complex starting in March, where we will invite issues. Now, with that knowledge, the only

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