The government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC EES) for organizations and Feed in tariffs (FITs) are expected to save money on fuel bills, reduce carbon emissions and generate their own low-carbon electricity.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is aimed at saving public and private sector organizations around GBP1bn per year by 2020 through energy efficiency measures that are not yet being taken up.
The aim of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is to help change behavior and will require large public and private sector organizations such as supermarkets, hotels, hospitals, local authorities and central government departments, to improve their energy efficiency. Participants’ performance will be published in the form of a league table.
All revenue raised from the sale of emissions allowances will be recycled back to participants with those who have increased efficiency receiving more of this money.
Organizations have until September to register. Businesses can start saving on their bills immediately through implementing energy efficiency measures. By 2020 the scheme is expected to have delivered emissions savings of at least 4.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
Feed in tariffs will also benefit individuals, organizations or businesses in England, Wales and Scotland who install low carbon electricity generation.
They will be paid money for every unit of electricity they generate, will get an extra 3 pence/kWh for every unit they don’t use that is exported to the grid. They can also benefit from a reduced electricity bill where they use the electricity that they generate rather than having to buy all they need from the grid.
A typical 2.5kW solar PV installation could offer savings of GBP140 a year plus earnings of GBP900 a year.
The UK government believes that the FITs will enable broad participation of individuals and communities in the shift towards a low carbon economy.
