carbon action

The Environment Agency has 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. More than 800 organisations ranked in the lowest possible position, with a weighted score of 402.
The scheme requires large organisations that use more than 6,000MWh electricity per year to measure and report carbon emissions. They gain credits for installing smart meters and complying with Carbon Trust - or an equivalent accreditation scheme - standards of energy management.

The league tables were initially designed to help government recycle the revenues raised through the CRC, but this element was controversially removed in last year's comprehensive spending review, meaning that the government now keeps the money.

However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change maintains that charging firms based on their energy use through the CRC will provide a financial driver for energy efficiency improvements, while league tables will provide a reputational incentive for companies to try to perform well.

Environment Agency director of environment and business Ed Mitchell said he is encouraged to see that six out of 10 organisations have taken steps to improve their energy management this year.

"This year, government will need to look more holistically at organisations' longer term environmental impact in order to get a clearer picture of our collective progress against the UK's 2020 targets."  Ian Foddering, chief technology officer at Cisco UKI.

www.guardian.co.uk, 11/2011