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Posts Tagged ‘Department of Energy and Climate Change’

Industry vows to fight to save Green Deal requirements

DCLG maintains no decision has been taken on ‘consequential improvement’ rules, despite reports Prime Minister wants them scrapped

Green businesses have vowed to fight for a fair review of government plans to introduce a mandatory element to the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme, following reports the Prime Minister is to put an end to a “consequential improvement” policy that would require some households to take steps to improve their energy efficiency.

According to an unnamed source quoted in the Guardian today, David Cameron will block proposed rules, which would force households to make energy efficiency improvements at no upfront cost through the Green Deal scheme when undertaking significant renovations to their home.

The news has drawn criticism from across the building industry, with Channel 4′s Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud leading condemnation of the apparent U-turn.

“Government plans to require homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their home when they build an extension are about as sensible as sensible gets, especially when the homeowner doesn’t have to pay for those improvements,” he said in a statement.

“Reading recent coverage I began to wonder if there was a secret anti-insulation lobby rabidly bent on increasing our domestic fuel bills.”

However, government departments today insisted the policy, known as “Part L” of building regulations, is still open for consultation.

April 18, 2012 2:52 pm - Posted by admin  | Comments ( 0 )
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Government loses appeal bid against High Court solar FiT ruling

The Government has lost its appeal bid against a High Court ruling that its plans to cut the Feed-in Tariff for solar electricity were unlawful.

The judgement handed down this morning by the Court of Appeal means the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will not be able to go ahead with its plans to cut the FiT subsidy for solar installations from December 12 2012 – leaving its policy in tatters. Instead it will have to introduce a ‘plan B’, which means the cuts will be eligible from March 3 2012.

The judgement will be welcomed by Friends of the Earth and the two solar companies – Solarcentury and Homesun – which won the High Court ruling in December that Government plans to slash payments for solar photovoltaic installations completed after December 12 2011 – 11 days before an official consultation into the proposal had closed – were unlawful.
The three Lords of Justices of Appeal announced their reserved judgement this morning following a hearing 10 days ago. It ends weeks of uncertainty for the solar industry, which has been reeling ever since Government plans to cut the tariff were announced at the end of October.

Solar firms were given just six weeks notice to prepare for the cuts, leading to fears of massive job cuts and business closures in the sector. Friends of Earth said DECC’s action had put 29,000 jobs at risk.

‘Plan B’

DECC, which maintains the cuts are necessary to ensure the budget for the FiT is protected, has not ruled out taking further legal action. But it will now introduce its contingency plans announced last week.

January 25, 2012 11:55 am - Posted by admin  | Comments ( 0 )
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What can we learn from the first CRC Performance League Table?

The UK has been one of the most proactive countries in tackling business emissions and climate change and the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is one of the latest innovative policy developments. The CRC widens the scope of businesses that are directly covered by emissions trading regulation and targets demand side efficiency in large non-energy intensive businesses. Not only does the CRC put a price on carbon, it also aims to drive change through increasing public scrutiny of corporate emissions through the league table.

However, the CRC league table, published for the first time in November, has been criticised by some as inaccurate, with arguments that the table is unrepresentative as it only takes into account advanced metering and early action certification. In addition some have complained that disclosure of ‘early action’ is voluntary, leading to misleading rankings. Others have objected to the level of administrative burden. So what was the purpose of the league table and how will it affect UK businesses going forward?

The Carbon Trust regards the first CRC Performance League Table as an important initial snapshot of corporate performance, which provides useful insight on baseline emissions levels and on the actions taken by business to manage their emissions in advance of the CRC scheme. While the first table may only include basic emissions and early action data, subsequent ranking will become more insightful as it will provide an effective measure of emissions reduction progress through comparisons with previous results. These year on year comparisons will reward those companies with long term emissions reduction programmes that are fully embedded within their strategy and operations.

January 19, 2012 2:50 pm - Posted by admin  | Comments ( 0 )
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Manchester United tops energy efficiency league table

More than 60 per cent of organisations reporting under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) have installed smart meters or gained good energy management accreditation, according to the government’s new energy efficiency league table.

The Environment Agency today published its first Energy Efficiency Performance League Table ranking 2,000 CRC organisations according to how they manage their energy use, including major supermarkets, retailers, restaurant chains, government departments, hospitals and councils.

Twenty-two organisations ranked joint first, with a weighted score of 202.95. They included Manchester United Football Team, CenterParcs, the Department of Energy and Climate Change and energy regulator Ofgem.

Interestingly, British American Tobacco also ranked joint first, showing that even companies unable to advertise their success to consumers are taking steps to boost energy security and cut carbon emissions.

More than 800 organisations ranked in the lowest possible position, with a weighted score of 402. They included the storage arm of Centrica, Virgin Atlantic and Peugeot.

November 9, 2011 9:29 am - Posted by admin  | Comments ( 0 )
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Delay to the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme should not prevent organisations to look at ways to lower their energy bills

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced a consultation on a delay to the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. The Department proposes that phase 2 of the scheme, including the qualifying period, will be delayed by two years.

Rob Tanzer, technical support manager for the Chloride AC Power business of Emerson Network Power in the United Kingdom, explains the impact for power consuming businesses. “Major power users such as the biggest data centres have already bought into the need to lower their energy bills for a variety of reasons, including the CRC.”

“There are still sound commercial reasons for all organisations to be installing the most energy efficient equipment available, today rather than tomorrow. For organisations yet to qualify, there’s a significant opportunity at hand. Businesses have breathing space, either to bring emissions below threshold levels or to initiate projects that will cut exposure when the CRC finally hits.”

He concluded: “Nevertheless, the big strategic imperative remains: to save money on ongoing basis by replacing ageing technology and processes – UPS is always a good candidate – with better, more cost efficient ones as electricity prices inevitably increase.”

Source: Electrical Portal

CRC News is the online voice for the CRC Scheme (Carbon Reduction Commitment) and Energy Efficiency in Buildings. The site covers news about the CRC EES , CRC Case Studies , CRC Guidance , CRC News , Energy Efficiency Consultants News , Energy Management & Energy Savings , Energy Measurement and Monitoring, Energy Recording and Reporting , Fines and Penalties , For more information, subscribe to the CRC News RSS feed or subscribe to CRC News by Email. You can also follow us on Twitter @CRC_News_

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November 22, 2010 1:44 pm - Posted by admin  | Comments ( 0 )
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Industry response to the implications of the CSR

What effect will the Government’s recently-announced Comprehensive Spending Review have on the HVAC sector? Industry experts gave H&V News readers their response.

David Frise, HVCA head of sustainability says that incentives for renewables and the radical transformation of Carbon Reduction Commitment energy efficiency scheme (CRC) are “just what many in the industry have been asking for”. The CRC is now, effectively, the carbon tax many have said was necessary to make energy a boardroom issue.

“This is one of those ‘be careful what you wish for’ moments,” said Mr Frise. “People have been pleading with the Government to simplify the CRC – well, it is certainly simpler now. A tax on consumption will push up the price of energy so creating the ultimate incentive to save it.”

He urged the industry to focus on the “big prize”, which is the boost these measures should give to the building refurbishment market.  Although the CRC only effects 5,000 companies,  information is being gleaned from as many as 20,000 organisations, creating an opportunity to expand the tax to these businesses at a later date. This could lead, he believes, to a huge potential market for energy efficiency upgrades.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has confirmed the £860m of funding previously set aside for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Mr Frise says this will “shift renewable heat from a fringe industry firmly into the mainstream”.

October 25, 2010 12:20 pm - Posted by admin  | Comments ( 0 )
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Green ‘stealth tax’ attacked by business groups

Business groups lined up today to condemn a £1bn stealth tax on companies that have invested in a government scheme to drive down CO2 emissions.

The CBI and manufacturers’ group the EEF both attacked the announcement, buried in the comprehensive spending review, that the Treasury would not pay back money to firms obliged to take part in the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme.

Chris Huhne, energy and climate secretary. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

“Revenues… totalling £1bn a year by 2014-15 will be used to support the public finances, including spending on the environment, rather than recycled to participants,” the spending review said.

Under the scheme, which was introduced earlier this year, companies made upfront payments to the Treasury on the understanding that they would get the money back by reducing emissions.

Steve Radley, EEF director of policy, said: “If the private sector is going to play a greater role in increasing investment and growth it needs clarity. By changing the rules six months after the game has started and landing business with an unsignalled £1bn tax rise, the government has sent an unwelcome signal.”

Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI, said: “This is not going to build trust. I have some cross members out there.”

Lambert said that the CBI had been told by the Department of Energy and Climate Change that the £1bn levy on business was the price demanded by the Treasury for the go-ahead for the carbon capture and storage demonstration facility – which has also been awarded £1bn.

Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem climate secretary, denied the change was a “stealth tax”, saying the old system was too complicated to work as an incentive for carbon reductions, and the money transferred to the Treasury could become part of the coalition’s promised increase in “green taxes” as a proportion of the overall tax take.”There was an awful lot of criticism from businesses of the amount of administration and compliance costs the CRC was imposing, with very litte effect on carbon reductions,” Huhne told the Guardian. One of the problems was that businesses did not know if they would qualify for repayments, so it was not acting as a motivation for investing in carbon reduction, he said.

October 22, 2010 8:28 am - Posted by admin  | Comments ( 0 )
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