Government scheme to save organisations £1billion and more than 4 million tonnes CO2 each year by 20

01/03/2010

Next month (April) sees the start of the Government’s new scheme to save organisations money on fuel bills and to reduce carbon emissions.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme will require large public and private sector organisations such as supermarkets, hotels, hospitals, local authorities and central government departments, to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. They will be required to take part in the scheme from 1st April 2010.

The aim of the scheme is to help change behaviour and make organisations more energy efficient – to reduce carbon emissions and save money. The financial savings should be significantly greater than any costs arising from participation, and importantly will make carbon reduction a boardroom issue for many large organisations.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said:

“. . .the CRC which will see large public and private sector organisations cutting emissions as well as saving money on fuel bills. This is a real opportunity for business and industry to take a leadership role in tackling climate change and gain reputational advantage as a result.”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Environment Agency, which will be running the scheme, have hosted more than 115 events to raise awareness about the scheme as well as running regional workshops and speaking events.

The CRC will help to ensure that organisations play their full role in contributing to the UK’s emissions reductions of at least 34% on 1990 levels by 2020 through improved energy efficiency.

The scheme is mandatory and will save participants around £1billion per year by 2020 through cost effective energy efficiency measures that are not yet being taken up.

By 2020 the scheme is expected to have saved at least 4.4 Million tonnes CO2 per year.

The scheme will target organisations whose annual half hourly metered (HHM) electricity use is at least 6,000 Megawatt hours (MWh) – typically those that spend £500,000 a year on electricity although all organisations which have a half hourly meter will be required to participate in some way.