being in spain, not renting, but rather owning an apprartment affords me with some perks other people don’t have when they come as tourists…
first of all, i, usually, at the end of july, get to participate at a property owners’ meeting where very important issues such as the change of the parking entry gate (after 18 years use) is discussed.
on the other side, however, i get to open the utility bills which have been accumulating during the year. my wife was here in march, sometimes we spend a week or so in autumn in spain, too. at any rate, our usage is very patchy.
for an ev driver, the type of electricity used for mobility is of paramount importance.
an ev, after all, is the only vehicle type which, over time, gets cleaner and cleaner to use. electricity generation is changing slowly and with it the consumption for electric mobility.
for the impatient of us: yes, these things can be pushed – most of us ev drivers do not like the composition of the electricity we consume and try to change the type of energy used for our mobility and everyday use.
in switzerland true free choice is not yet reality. yes, we can use solutions such as www.genosol.ch or nature made star to purchase fully co2-neutral electricity. i, myself, have purchased about 1.7mWh of 100% co2-free electricity for the TWIKE with a very handy motorway-style sticker. this sticker ensures that wherever i consume this energy, it will be 100% clean. our family home is powered by 100% hydro-power from the hydro-electric dam just some kms away from our home.
back to spain… opening the utility bills i found the most interesting consumer information regarding electricity to come across my eyes for a long time! (did i mention, that i’m a sucker for good consumer information?)
let’s have a look together, shall we?
as mentioned in the featured picture “information sobre su electricidad” (information on your electricity), iberdrola, our energy provider now informs us in detail on the energy consumed.
i was especially concerned by the “milligrams of highly radioactive material per kWh” figure. how would this look like in places like france for example, where a good 70%+ are generated by atomic power?
were i to use this energy mix to get to work i’d produce 1.48 milligrams of highly radioactive material plus 761.4 grams of co2 per day: just driving to work and back…hard to comprehend!
we in switzerland should get this information, too, and be able to choose in a qualified manner, just like everyone in spain seems able to!
…we will be looking into changing our energy provider sometime soon!
Living somewhere with better or worse options? Let us know! (i.e. Comment!)