How Organisations Can Take Full Advantage of the CRC Scheme

Online, October 18, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Organisations that think they have got the hard work completed by successfully registering for the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme ahead of last month's deadline, will be surprised knowing that is far from reality. Business and public sector bodies should prepare during the rest of this financial year if they want to take best advantage when the CRC scheme enters its proposed cap-and-trade phase from 2013.

Once organisations have registered for the CRC scheme and see they can comply with the CRC's basic rules, they will quickly realise that those which get a handle on their energy use and can map out a strategy for reducing carbon emissions over the next three to 10 years will benefit most from the CRC scheme.

The next most important aspect of the CRC scheme after registration is working out the carbon emissions for which the company is truly responsible, also known as relevant carbon emissions. Accurate and comprehensive records of carbon emissions are vital, not only to provide the Environment Agency with auditable data, but also to enable companies to estimate how many allowances they will need to buy in the so-called footprint year, in which the footprint report should be completed.

For the introductory phase, the first annual reporting year will be April 2010-March 2011, and companies will be expected to be in a position to know how many allowances to buy from April next year. Therefore, companies will need to calculate their relevant carbon emissions based on their electricity and gas consumption, and the use of other types of fuel, such as oil and diesel.

Energy providers should be able to provide this information by listing all unique meters identification numbers supplied to particular premises and the total amount of energy supplied annually through every meter. All carbon emissions from these sources of energy must be included in CRC carbon emissions calculations, unless they are covered by the EU Emissions Trading System or Climate Change Agreements (CCAs).

Then, energy data from the footprint report should be used to produce an annual report, which must be submitted to the Environment Agency by the end of July 2011. The report will have to include accurate information on CRC carbon emissions, as well as details of any exemptions and any changes to organisational structure for the participating firm or public sector body. It will also have to be backed up with energy data to produce an evidence pack.

During the first three years of the introductory phase, the Environment Agency will sell allowances at a fixed price of £12 per tonne of CO2, with the first sale taking place in April 2011. Organisations will have to purchase allowances to cover projected CRC carbon emissions in the financial year 2011/12.

Organisations must improve their carbon data management procedures in order to project estimated future carbon emissions. Firms should have to plan ahead for the next year as soon as the second year of the CRC starts.