It’s now tradable eco letters

Dec. 9: In an attempt to encourage the renewable energy sector, the government will issue renewable energy certificates (REC), which can be traded on the power exchange.
Currently, the renewable energy accounts for just 3.5 per cent of the total energy generated. Of this, 70 per cent comes from wind energy and solar is very low.
The Central Electricity R-egulatory Commission has issued a 15-page document in November detailing the pros and cons of the renewable energy certificates and the steps taken to promote renewable energy sources.
Each certificate would represents one megawatt hour of electricity generated from RE sources and injected into the grid.
However, sources say trading in carbon credits is more lucrative. Each carbon credit today get you a minimum of Rs 600 per tonne as it is calculated based on tonnes of carbon dioxide released. While the price of REC will be as discovered on the power exchange.
The REC trading scheme overlaps the carbon credits market in that both issue certificates for projects which are generating the same environmental goods.
Mr Kishore Butani, the founder of carbonyatra, says, “There is a risk of double counting, since an REC would by default also factor the carbon dioxide element into the certificate.” Some companies can also use this loophole to sell this credit twice.