WWF ruffles feathers over green power

Electricity industry lobbyists have hit back at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) over its controversial efforts to encourage renewable generation. WWF recently published its ranking of 72 electric power companies across 18 industrialised countries. The Spanish company Iberdrola emerges top of the list, largely because of its commitment to use renewables, while American FPL and the UK’s Scottish Power come second a third respectively. However, RWE faced criticism over its investments in new coal-fired stations with WWF arguing that these investments are supporting the most carbon-intensive form of fossil fuel. Nonetheless, Eurelectric, which represents European utilities, has slammed the WWF by suggesting that the report focusses on investment made in new renewables and CHP, ignoring carbon free contributions from hydro and nuclear power.