Manufacturing of products takes a lot of energy. Transporting products takes a lot of energy. Producing the and transporting raw material is energy demanding. There are more dimensions to a products energy profile and therefore it is complex.
The way to use the Clean Energy Score comparison is to look at parts of the life-cycle of the product. We think of it as a house with multiple sides and ways to access it.
Raw material (in the door)
Production (out the chimney)
Material and administration (out the window)
Transport and export (out the door)
Disposal (at the loft).
All sides requires energy and all sides can be compared as far as the Clean Energy Score goes.
If a high Clean Energy Score is achieved because the factory has installed wind energy, you could compare other factories and their Clean Energy Score by looking at the production side of things. A label could say: produced with wind energy, Clean Energy Score 50. This means that 50% of the energy used in the production process (not including transport etc.) comes from renewable energy sources and this is better than no green energy used at all. When all things are considered for a product’s life cycle the term cradle to cradle is sometimes used.
To compare product’s Clean Energy Score is good when it is explained in how the product is environmentally friendly on the energy side.
