Legislation

Whilst there seems to be an almost hysterical hype surrounding supposed alternative or green energy resources, in 2010 the UK government will be introducing a Feed-In Tariff to “help promote solar power and reduce carbon dioxide emissions” which on the face of it seems to provide genuine incentive for UK businesses to invest in solar energy with both financial and environmental benefits.

A Feed-in Tariff (FIT) provides a long-term financial incentive for people to invest in renewable energy. Under a FIT system electricity companies are obligated by governments to buy renewable electricity at above market rates.

The Feed-in Tariff will help reduce global warming, boost UK clean-tech jobs and reward people for installing solar power.

It is important the Feed-in Tariff is set at the correct rate. If it’s too low the potential for a massive increase in the UKs solar energy could be lost, and we could be left behind the rest of Europe.
We Support Solar website

Find out more about this by visiting the We Support Solar website and you can show your support for solar energy and the potential uses for business and domestic buildings by registering your interest in this scheme.

Following a recent investigation, Ofgem has released a new set of guidelines for implementation this autumn designed to protect small businesses by increasing transparency in contracts and agreements with energy brokers and advisors. This will reduce many of the problems faced by small businesses in negotiating deals and clarity on knowing what rights they have as a business energy consumer therefore reducing the number of complaints and hours spent resolving disputes. These changes include:
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Energy Benchmarking is the latest buzzword in the world of energy management, carbon emissions and conservation. We are finding that increasing numbers of new and existing clients are questioning how and where they can save energy. This is where the Carbon Trust can assist. The Carbon Trust was set up by the UK Government in 2001 and is an independant company created to “accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies.”

It might be worth spending some time using their Benchmarking Tool For Office Buildings – here you can make an assessment of how much energy you use in your office spaces and compare this with benchmarks produced for 4 different office types as part of the very detailed ECON 19 publication. This enables the user to flag up any potential need for change and improvement in efficient use of energy.

Despite the current global economic predicament, the UK government are pushing forward with their ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The latest addition to the climate change policy in the UK will be the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), due to be introduced in 2010. All large users of electricity, (ones with an electricity bill of approximately £500,000 for the period January 1st 2008 – December 31st 2008) are CRC organisations and will eventually be required to take part in a cap and trade scheme, buying allowances to cover their emissions.  Where those who do well will be rewarded with bonus payments and those who do badly will suffer financial penalties.

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