CRC simplification may further reduce carbon emissions, says Brammer 05 April 2012

Government proposals to simplify the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) – by cutting the qualification process, reporting requirements and fuels covered (from 29 to just four) – may well help cut carbon emissions.

That's the view from Jeremy Salisbury, managing director of MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) specialist Brammer.

"When it was introduced, the CRC simply formalised in legislation what responsible, well-run businesses were already doing anyway – reviewing all aspects of their processes to understand their plants energy needs and cut out wasteful energy consumption to help improve their energy efficiency," asserts Salisbury.

"This is key to improving profitability, and many manufacturing companies were among those who embraced 'early action measures', such as independent energy audits, which identify opportunities to reduce consumption in areas such as electric motors, drives and compressed air," he explains.

"The new proposals are to be welcomed as, if implemented, they will significantly cut administration time and so allow greater focus on energy reduction measures and other projects to help enhance competitiveness," he adds.

Salisbury believes that companies electing to work with suppliers, such as his, which can provide independent advice and help implement efficiency measures, will be those benefitting most in the long term.

Effective since April 2010, the CRC is a mandatory emissions trading scheme that requires businesses using more than 6,000 MwH of half-hourly metered electricity to reduce their carbon emissions year on year.

The aim is to reduce carbon emissions in larger, non-energy intensive organisations by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon each year by 2020, helping organisations to save money by reducing their energy usage.

Businesses have to report on, and pay tax on, energy used, and are ranked in a publicly available performance league table.

Brian Tinham

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Brammer UK

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