Two new carbon cutting incentive schemes have been launched by the Government that aim to see businesses as well as homes helping to reduce emissions by 34% on 1990 levels by 2020. The government propose to reach their target level through improving energy efficiency and pioneering small-scale low-carbon electricity.

To Government aim to save money on fuel bills and reduce carbon emissions through the Carbon Reduction Commitment’s (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme and feed in tariffs, they also plan to generate their own low-carbon electricity. The new Energy Efficiency Scheme is designed to save public & private sector companies around £1 billion a year by 2020 by introducing energy saving measures that are not currently in place.

The CRC’s plans also aim to change the behaviour of organisations and layout plans that will require large entities such as central government departments, local authorities, supermarkets, hotels and hospitals to improve their energy efficiency all around and improvements will be published in league table format.  All money raised from the sale of emissions allowances will be pumped back into the scheme with top performers in the league receiving better incentives.

New feed in tariffs have also been introduced which will anyone who wants to install a low-carbon electricity generator. Any business, organisation or person that installs one of these units will be paid for each unit they generate plus an extra 3p per kilowatt hour for every unit that is left unused and put into the national grid. On top of this, energy bills are reduced as personally generated energy is used rather than it all being bought from the grid. A typical generator should save up to £140 per year plus provide income of around £900! On top of double glazing, improved insulation and other common green home improvements, consumer’s energy bills could be dramatically reduced.

Author:  Thomas Davies

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