CRC ENERGY EFFICIENCY SCHEME

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme

There is a raft of legislation in place in the UK which covers energy usage and efficiencies in the public sector, light industry and commercial, including the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (previously known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment), Building regulations and the Climate Change Levy. Sites with large combustion plants, such as CHP schemes or very large boilers, must also comply with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the Climate Change Agreements.

It is estimated that the public sector and large private organisations are responsible for around 10% of the UK’s emissions, or around 55 MtCO2. The CRC Energy Efficient Scheme aims to reduce carbon emissions from these organisations by at least 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, by 2020.

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is a mandatory carbon emissions reporting and pricing scheme. It covers all organisations and businesses using more than 6,000MWh per year of electricity, which equates to an annual electricity bill of approximately £500,000.

The CRC scheme is managed and administered by the Environment Agency and you can find out more about it here.

The following information reflects the changes which were made by the Government in October 2010, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

There are three primary elements of the CRC:

1. Emissions reporting requirement

Participants in the CRC will need to measure and report their carbon emissions annually using a specific set of measurement rules.

2. A new carbon price

Participants buy allowances from the Government every year to cover their emissions in the previous year. The price of these allowances was set at £12 per tonne of carbon dioxide in the 2011 Budget. This means that organisations which lower their emissions can lower their costs under the CRC. The first sale of allowances to cover emissions in fiscal year 2011/12 will be in 2012 rather than 2011.
.
3. Ranking of participants in a performance league table

A publicly available CRC performance league table will rank organisations for their performance. The first league table was launched in November 2011.

If you would like to find out more the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and how it effects your business, please call us on 01246 43 23 25 or email us today.