Next year, government will continue its legislative attempts to bring down the amount of carbon emitted in the UK, by introducing the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, which will see around 5000 organisations across the country subject to punitive measures.
The organisations involved will be required to provide information relating to their carbon emissions, and will face financial ramifications if numbers are not reduced over time.
It has also been revealed that the 5000 organisations is likely to include educational institutions, such as schools and universities.
But the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme will give free advice, plus grants and soft loans, to such institutions. It is hoped that this combination of assessment and incentive will help ease such institutions towards a greener existence.
Public Sector Manager, Tom Cumberlege, outlined what he saw as the necessities and benefits of the scheme, for both the institutions and for the wider community. He stated that,
"The first and practical step is to understand where the simple measures can be made - the no/low cost measures...People can start to minimise energy wastage first then start to build an idea of what the options are for capital investment.That will often be looking at improving the way they're delivering heating and lighting and certainly if they want to then take advantage of grants to invest in renewable technologies that's a credible option".
The scheme appeals to the environmental mindset through economic sensibilities, and this is a line that the New Labour government have taken a number of times when it comes to providing an incentive for environmental reform. The Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme has outlined that link quite specifically on its website.
So far, the measures we’ve identified have already resulted in a 20% reduction on average in UK schools’ energy costs. This has enabled budgets to be reallocated, resulting in more money being available for what matters most – investing in the future of students.
"Not only can you save money, but lower energy usage also results in a reduced impact on the environment – giving the next generation a promising future in more ways than one".
The Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme will be one tool that the government uses in its new UK Low Carbon Transition plan, as it looks to significantly reduce the way energy is used in the UK.
Posted under Articles, Environmental News
This post was written by Chris Woolfrey on August 18, 2009
