An industry-wide carbon tax was the best way to finance energy saving projects, says Angus Robertson, chief executive of powerPerfector.

Speaking at the Greening the Public Sector conference in London this week, he said: “The financing arm for the public sector, Salix, has been scrapped. If the UK businesses industry was charged 1p per kwh, that would be enough to finance green initiatives and not affect the government’s coffers. We need to do something if the government is going to meet its CO2 reduction targets.

“I think most businesses would accept a 1p carbon tax. There is a real understanding in this country to address the carbon problem.

“Like smoking, energy waste has to become antisocial. We need to make big changes over the next five to ten years.”