From April 2010, a new scheme will begin to help organisations save energy, save money and, in a environmentally conscious world, become leaders in tackling climate change.
by Andrew Hitchings
28 January 2010
From April 2010, a new scheme will begin to help organisations save energy, save money and, in a environmentally conscious world, become leaders in tackling climate change.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme will make it a legal requirement for some large organisations throughout the UK to take up cost effective energy efficiency measures.
Do you qualify?
CRC participation is determined by 2008 electricity consumption. Any organisation with a "settled half-hourly electricity meter" (HHM) during calendar year 2008 will have to provide the Environment Agency with information about how much half-hourly metered electricity it used.
For those that used at least 6,000MWh during 2008 (roughly equating to a bill of £500,000 per year), start monitoring and recording emissions from energy use from April 2010. These organisations need to register for CRC as a participant.
If the amount was less than 6,000MWh in 2008, the Environment Agency must be told, but no further action is required. These organisations will need to make an Information Disclosure during the CRC registration period.
You will register as a participant or make your information disclosure via the Environment Agency website during the CRC registration period - 1 April 2010 to the 30 September 2010.
The CRC places obligations on organisations to report carbon emissions. Organisations that register for CRC as a participant will need to purchase allowances to cover their emissions each year. Those organisations that take up energy efficiency measures will not only save money on fuel bills but will be rewarded financially based on good performance. This will be reflected in a league table.
Benefits of CRC
A recent Environment Agency report entitled, The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme: Coverage, Abatement and Future Caps, indicates the CRC scheme has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions up to 11.6 million tonnes per year by 2020 - the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road. Analysis indicated that, by improving energy efficiency, CRC will achieve cost-effective emissions reductions, saving participants money and enabling green growth - benefiting the economy by £1 billion by 2020.
This report also found that the service sector has the most potential to cut energy use and reduce carbon emissions mainly through better management of heating, air conditioning and lighting. Insulating buildings to a high standard, fitting low energy lighting, controlling building temperature correctly and installing voltage optimisation technology are easy, inexpensive measures that organisations can take.
At the Environment Agency, our Anglian region enforced a 19 degrees Celsius office building temperature policy for the winter months and put the heating on two weeks later than the previous year, which cut gas use by 34 per cent and reduced the region's heating.
Here to help
A number of resources are available from www.environment-agency.gov.uk/crc
detailed CRC guidance, including An Introduction to CRC, Registering as a CRC Participant and Making an Information Disclosure.
energy efficiency/CRC case studies from King's College London, first direct bank, Land Securities, Devon Country Council, Manchester University and Thames Water.
dedicated CRC help desk providing assistance and answers to specific queries
on-demand webcast providing a 'sneak peak' of the CRC registration portal. Download this webcast for free, save it to you computer, and watch it in your own time.
official CRC User Guide produced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. (www.decc.gov.uk/crc)
the CRC timeline. Find out what happens when, along with what you're required to do/submit and when.
links to specific industry publications that cover CRC. These are external publications produced by such organisations as the British Property Federation, The Carbon Trust Standard, UK Green Building Council, London Energy Project and others.
Your next step
What you do now is key to preparing for CRC. Your next steps should include; determining if you meet CRC qualification criteria as a participant or as an organisation that needs to make an information disclosure; reading up on CRC and determining your obligations; and start gathering information and data, working closely with your colleagues to determine roles and responsibilities.
Published guidance
The Environment Agency has published guidance to help organisations successfully register for the scheme.
This guidance provides detailed information to help organisations:
Understand what the CRC is;
Understand how CRC applies to different organisations;
Assess their organisation's structure;
Determine if they qualify for CRC; and
Decide if they are required to register as a CRC Participant or make an Information Disclosure, with details on how to do so.
We've also produced a number of brief guidance documents the cover popular CRC topics, including:
Early action metric;
Automatic meter reading (AMR);
Changes in your organisation since the qualification year (2008)
What counts as an organisation; and
Revenue recycling
All of this guidance is available from www.environment-agency.gov.uk/crc
Andrew Hitchings is CRC project executive with The Environment Agency