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A different perspective: Greenpeace as a business
When Iowans think of Greenpeace, they imagine youth in rubber boats
keeping a whale ship away from its prey or people in ropes repelling off a
high building to unfurl a banner on global warming. In Hamburg,
Greenpeace members are business owners.
Supplying as many people as possible with clean energy without using
nuclear or coal power at fair prices is the goal of Greenpeace Energy eG.
The company aims to help environmentally friendly electricity breakthrough
in Germany. Its leaders invest in new, clean facilities for
generating energy such as small hydro and solar plants and buy "green
power" from other firms. They sell this electricity to about
16,000 households and more than 200 companies.
The company is organized as a consumer coop similar to Blooming Prairie
Food warehouse in Iowa City. More than 10,000 cooperative members
guarantee the independence and the economical basis of this innovative and
unique project.
Susanne Hylla of Greenpeace Energy talked with members of the Green Bike
Tour about the formation of the company. The Greenpeace organization
tried to get a firm interested in marketing green power from wind and
other sources in 1998. When they found little interest, they decided to go
into business themselves.
At least 50 percent of the clean electricity Greenpeace Energy markets
comes from wind, hydro, solar power and biomass plants. The rest is
natural gas from which both electricity and heat is extracted. One can see
the proportions of the generation mix on the coop's website: www.greenpeace-energy.com.
How do you market green power? In the beginning Greenpeace Energy used
a fairly radical advertising campaign, tying green energy to anti-nuclear
activities. Protesters being sprayed with water cannons by the
police were depicted on early advertising posters. Now the approach is
softer. A new advertising poster shows a bathroom and states:
"Brush your teeth, wash your face and clean your energy."
Greenpeace Energy is not the biggest of the eight or so companies
marketing green energy in the new deregulated German electricity market
but its 16,000 customers are about one-fourth of the total green
electricity buyers in the country. The 15 employees realize they must
provide good service to their customers but also know they are engaged in
combating global warming by getting people to shift to clean electricity.
-- David Osterberg
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