Mixed reaction to government's CRC simplification plans
2 Apr 2012
London - The UK government has finally issued proposals to simplify the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) - a mandatory emissions trading scheme.
As introduced back in April 2010, CRC requires businesses using more than 6,000MwH of half-hourly metered electricity to reduce their carbon emissions year on year.
The scheme is targeted principally at larger, non-energy intensive organisations. They have to report on and pay tax on energy used, and are ranked in a publicly available performance league table.
Under the new proposals, the CRC qualification process will be shortened, with the number of fuels covered reduced from 29 to just four. Meanwhile, less reporting will be required and records will not need to be kept for such a long period.
The changes have been welcomed by some industry managers, among them Jeremy Salisbury of Brammer – a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) products and services company.
“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,” said Salisbury.
“The burden of complying with CRC requirements should not be excessive and certainly should never impact on the real priority of identifying and implementing measures to reduce energy usage and operational costs,” he added.
However, others continue to regard the CRC scheme as an unwelcome burden, particularly at a time when many industrial companies fighting to stay in business.
Mark King, director of 2bm – a company focused on managing energy consumption in data centres – is unswayed by the latest government proposals for the CRC scheme.
“The CRC requirement continues to distract companies from key issues, such as improving … operational performance and minimising expensive downtime,” said King.
“The world is running out of power at the same time as demand is spiralling. Of course, something has to give. But is CRC really the answer?
“Organisations need to focus on saving money and improving performance - with the right approach, carbon reduction commitments will be met by default.”
