npower’s Wayne Mitchell’s Blog

Get ready for more energy-efficiency obligations Do you feel your energy-efficiency-related workload has become, well, inefficient? We currently have the CRC, the EU ETS, Climate Change Agreements and Greenhouse Gas emissions reporting, some or all of which you may be legally required to participate in. Then there are the complexities of Electricity Market Reform and […]

TEAM confirms speaker at Exeter Regional Support Group

Abigail Lamberti, Carbon Manager at Somerset County Council will discuss the current energy related projects which the council is undertaking and how using TEAM Sigma has helped to support the Energy Management Unit. Abigail manages the Council’s Carbon Management Team. The vision for her team is to drive carbon management across the organisation, to reduce […]

CRC fails to give firms’ long-term policy certainty

The UK’s carbon reduction scheme is still failing to give businesses the long-term policy certainty and it needs to have “robust and timely data” to make sure it remains effective. That’s the view of the Institute of Environmental management & Assessment (IEMA), which made the comment following the delayed publication of the Carbon Reduction Commitment […]

Contractors top carbon reduction league table

Construction companies BAM Group and Skanska topped the list for energy efficiency in the final 2011/12 table in the UK. The Environment Agency published the much-awaited Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Performance League Table (PLT), which ranks companies for their energy efficiency performance. According to the table, BAM Group achieved a 65% cut in its carbon […]

Guest Blog Mervyn Bowden: A deal that’s green in its thinking!

I have to admit that I find most Government-led schemes to “improve” various aspects of our lives somewhat cringe-worthy. They conjure up so many varied visions of how our hard earned cash is going to be squandered by the faceless politicians and their cronies who have the fortunate and comfortable job of distributing it to […]

‘Simplified’ CRC to save firms £272m by 2030

The UK Government has announced it will “dramatically simplify” the controversial carbon tax, which it claims could save around businesses around £272 million in the next 20 years. Called the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), the reforms of the scheme were announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement which is expected to reduce administrative costs by […]

Carry on carbon taxing – but is the league table scrapped?

Businesses who regularly complain about the crushing burden of admin for green taxes may be sighing with relief today as the Chancellor set out plans to simplify the rules. While George Osborne had no room to mention the scheme himself in the Commons, his Autumn Statement promised “a number of simplifications” to the Carbon Reduction […]

Keep the carbon tax, George – but make it work, says industry

The Government’s lambasted carbon tax on businesses could be tweaked to benefit firms despite criticism it has been a “wasted opportunity”. Firms want the Treasury to give them some of the money back and give the performance league table more clout, according to an industry report called “What is the Future of the CRC?” commissioned […]

Davey at ease despite Tory Hayes’ windy words

Energy Secretary Ed Davey struck a confident figure yesterday despite potential tension with Tory MP John Hayes after the junior minister’s anti-wind comments this week. Speaking at the Energy Live 2012 conference at the QE2 in London, he shook off the week’s negative media attention by quipping, “It’s been an interesting week”. He added there […]

Big retailers ‘must boost sales by £1bn to counter carbon tax’

Big British retailers will be forced to find a total £1billion worth of extra sales to counter the newly introduced carbon tax. In a tough economic climate when shoppers are reluctant to splash the cash, supermarkets and clothing chains will have to work even harder to combat the cost burden of the Carbon Reduction Commitment. […]