by jbs031310 f3 — March 15, 2010—The British government is urging businesses to prepare for the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, which comes into effect April 1, 2010.
Organizations covered by the program have just a couple of weeks to put in place processes to measure energy use and carbon emissions, notes energy solutions provider Envido.
Any organization with half-hourly electricity meters will have to register with the Environment Agency under the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, while about 5,000 of the heaviest energy users will have to partake in the full CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and report annually on their energy use and carbon emissions, explains Envido.
Around 20,000 private and public organizations fall under the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. The deadline to register with the Environment Agency is September 2010, although those organizations using more than 6,000 Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity a year will be required to begin measuring how much energy they use from April 1, 2010.
Participating organizations will have to record carbon emissions data with the government from next year, in order to compile a national CRC league table based on organizations’ carbon emissions and energy efficiency improvements.
These organizations will also have to purchase carbon allowances in line with their carbon emissions each year. The best-performing participants in the energy efficiency scheme each year will receive back the money they spend on carbon allowances along with an additional bonus. The worst performers will see a financial penalty taken from their rebates from the scheme.
