By David Williams
25 September 2009
Experts have questioned the effectiveness of the government’s mandatory carbon reduction scheme, due to come into force in the next financial year.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment, a complex emissions trading system that most public sector bodies will join in April, was discussed at CIPFA’s 2009 sustainability conference on September 24.
The scheme will involve up to 6,000 public and private bodies, and from 2013 will set a legally binding annual target of a 3% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from buildings – transport will not be included.
Auctions of carbon credits, priced at £12 per tonne emitted, will allow the greenest participants to profit from the worst polluters.
But Amanda de Swarte, change manager for the London Energy Project, told delegates: ‘The actual cost of energy is £200 to £225 per tonne. I can’t see why people would get excited about saving £12 a tonne when they haven’t been particularly excited about saving £200.’
She added that the CRC would place a huge burden on public bodies by forcing them to account for 100% of the carbon emissions generated by their buildings.
For councils, these will include schools. De Swarte said up to 60% of an authority’s total emissions come from schools. These are increasing by 10% to 15% annually due to increased opening hours, rising use of computers, and air conditioning.
But, she added: ‘You can do lots of efficient data management and gathering and not reduce carbon at all. Are we going to reduce carbon or are we going to produce lots of data? I'm not entirely sure, yet.’
De Swarte also cautioned that a bad strategy in buying and selling carbon credits could result in a green council losing money. She recommended that directors tackle CO2 by concentrating first on reducing energy usage.
Under a pilot carbon market scheme run by the Local Government Information Unit, gross carbon emissions rose in 2008/09. The experiment, involving 34 councils from across the UK, was intended to mimic the CRC system.
Those taking part emitted 534,802 tonnes of CO2 – up from 533,386 the year before, and significantly higher than the target level of 506,715, which would have represented a 5% drop.
Andy Johnston, head of the centre for local sustainability at the LGIU, told the conference that the unexpectedly harsh weather in early 2009 increased councils’ energy use. The council that saved the most CO2, reducing emissions by 27%, did so by closing a library building.
Johnston said councils have will difficulty keeping their energy consumption down because their monitoring is generally much less effective than in the private sector.
25 September 2009
Experts have questioned the effectiveness of the government’s mandatory carbon reduction scheme, due to come into force in the next financial year.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment, a complex emissions trading system that most public sector bodies will join in April, was discussed at CIPFA’s 2009 sustainability conference on September 24.
The scheme will involve up to 6,000 public and private bodies, and from 2013 will set a legally binding annual target of a 3% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from buildings – transport will not be included.
Auctions of carbon credits, priced at £12 per tonne emitted, will allow the greenest participants to profit from the worst polluters.
But Amanda de Swarte, change manager for the London Energy Project, told delegates: ‘The actual cost of energy is £200 to £225 per tonne. I can’t see why people would get excited about saving £12 a tonne when they haven’t been particularly excited about saving £200.’
She added that the CRC would place a huge burden on public bodies by forcing them to account for 100% of the carbon emissions generated by their buildings.
For councils, these will include schools. De Swarte said up to 60% of an authority’s total emissions come from schools. These are increasing by 10% to 15% annually due to increased opening hours, rising use of computers, and air conditioning.
But, she added: ‘You can do lots of efficient data management and gathering and not reduce carbon at all. Are we going to reduce carbon or are we going to produce lots of data? I'm not entirely sure, yet.’
De Swarte also cautioned that a bad strategy in buying and selling carbon credits could result in a green council losing money. She recommended that directors tackle CO2 by concentrating first on reducing energy usage.
Under a pilot carbon market scheme run by the Local Government Information Unit, gross carbon emissions rose in 2008/09. The experiment, involving 34 councils from across the UK, was intended to mimic the CRC system.
Those taking part emitted 534,802 tonnes of CO2 – up from 533,386 the year before, and significantly higher than the target level of 506,715, which would have represented a 5% drop.
Andy Johnston, head of the centre for local sustainability at the LGIU, told the conference that the unexpectedly harsh weather in early 2009 increased councils’ energy use. The council that saved the most CO2, reducing emissions by 27%, did so by closing a library building.
Johnston said councils have will difficulty keeping their energy consumption down because their monitoring is generally much less effective than in the private sector.
