‘Stichting Milieukeur’ has developed the label called ‘Milieukeur groene electriciteit’. For the auditing of energy companies, Stichting Milieukeur co-operates with the independent certification company DNV (Det Norske Veritas).

The label imposes a set of requirements that are additional to the rules the Dutch government has laid down for the offering of green electricity by energy companies. These additional requirements mainly regard the import of biomassa and the (non-)eligibility of certain types of biomass.

In 2004, green electricity generated with biomass covered the yearly demand of 900,000 Dutch households. However, not all types of biomass are undisputed: for example Dutch environmental organisations disagree with the use of sewerage sludge and manure from the bio-industry for the generation of green electricity. The Dutch green energy label Milieukeur sets additional requirements concerning the use of biomass.

Part of the green electricity sold in The Netherlands is imported from other countries. An important requirement is that the imported green electricity results in additional renewable energy capacity in the exporting country. In order to avoid double counting, imported green electricity should be attributed to the country where the green electricity is consumed. Milieukeur only takes into account green electricity that is imported from countries that came to such an agreement with the Dutch government. Currently there are no such agreements in place, which limits the amount of imported green electricity that is eligible for Milieukeur.

Milieukeur has been developed in co-operation with energy companies, environmental and consumer organisations. Participation is voluntary.

With over 100,000 customers, Greenchoice is the largest of the two Dutch energy companies that exclusively offers green electricity to their customers. Furthermore, the company supplies ‘green gas’: the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by using natural gas is compensated by Greenchoice by afforestation and the protection of tropical forests.