You’ve got the power. Now what are you going to do with it?  

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Demand side response is often talked and written about. Energy prices go up, climate is changing, renewable energy technologies continue to develop – will we always have electricity available when we want it? How can we as consumers control the cost and what can businesses do to secure the future of our electricity system?

 

Electric Mountain sounds like a name of an 80s glam rock band. It is in fact three, massive, hydro power stations, buried in Snowdonia’s national park. Rather than supplying overblown riffs or delivering falsetto in skinny jeans, Electric Mountain delivers gigawatts of electricity at the flick of a switch – all to meet our demand for power when we ask for it.

And we have long taken this for granted – it’s a great success story and mark of the quality of the engineering prowess of this nation in the last century that we can have electricity when we want. But one of the critical challenges in our transition to a low carbon energy system is aligning decentralised power supply with an ever-increasing power demand – will there be enough electricity available to me when I want to start my lathe, or fire the ovens, or even just watch telly? And just how much will that cost?

The National Grid is a brilliant way to ensure that power that is generated in one place is delivered to a user in another location. This is also addressing the old complaint that renewables are intermittent – with renewables distributed across the country capturing the energy of all our island’s weather and tides as well as connections to the continent, renewables are the new base load.

So one way to match supply and demand is to increase supply in the grid. The other side of the coin is cutting demand. There are many incentives to cut your energy use: lower consumption means lower energy costs, fewer carbon emissions, longer operational lifespan for your equipment, etc etc etc.

Now the government is looking to incentivise consumers to reduce consumption at pinch points in the grid, according to this recent Ofgem report. These occur either when demand is particularly high (everyone boiling their kettles in the ad break of EastEnders) or when supply is constrained (low wind conditions, or a gas power station temporarily offline). New rules will mean that you would benefit from reducing your consumption during those times, increasing generation, or running on back-up power, like batteries.

This means that any business with onsite generation (like backup generators, combined heat and power plant, batteries or solar PV) can reap even more benefits from these systems. If you can shift your power supply off the grid and on to these local systems at times when the national grid is constrained – you will be rewarded.

The other option is to reduce consumption in response to the grid – so could you turn off non-critical asset at times when demand across the grid is high? Typically, this could be increasing the set point of your air conditioning – your staff is unlikely to notice that the office is a few degrees warmer for an hour or so, but it might mean that the National Grid can avoid activating expensive, short term reserve like Electric Mountain – 1.8 MW power within 16 seconds is impressive, but at a cost.

Yet another option is to respond to oversupply in the grid – mid-afternoon on a breezy autumn day, when the turbines are spinning and the solar PV is pumping out. Could you adjust your working practice to take advantage of lots of cheap power available in the grid? I try to plan ahead and set my washing machine and dishwasher to run when I know (within the tolerances of the UK weather forecast!) my solar panels will be generating – this applies on the regional or national scale too.

At the moment, we don’t “feel” the cost of balancing supply and demand directly. Many businesses are on fixed price tariffs, enabling you to plan expenditure and monitor efficiencies at a macro level. But as we move to greater flexibility in tariffs and smart meters are rolled out, we will know more accurately the cost of power when we want it, and the financial benefit of responding to the availability of power and maximise the benefit of our existing renewable power generation.

Your business could benefit from the new, flexible energy systems – by turning down demand from the grid during pinch points, by using back up power, like solar PV, battery storage or CHP, or even by shifting your consumption to times of the day when there’s a glut of power in the grid. Do you know what your consumption pattern is like? Could your asset be deployed to take advantage of incentives, by switching off, turning down, or disconnecting from the grid at peak demand?

You can benefit from better understanding and control of your energy use – through reducing your energy bills directly, and through new incentives as part of our future flexible electricity system.

Energy efficiency in East Sussex: the LoCASE project  

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As the new year kicks off, Carbon Smart is heavily involved with an exciting new project which is both boosting the South East’s economy while reducing the carbon footprint of many businesses. Low Carbon Across the South East (LoCASE) is an EU funded project, which enables SME’s to invest in energy efficiency opportunities.

The LoCASE programme is driven by a conglomerate of local bodies including East Sussex County Council and the Green Growth Platform who have secured £18.5 million in funding for carbon efficiency projects from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The LoCASE programme will provide a whole range of benefits by supporting low carbon projects, as it will stimulate a knock-on effect throughout the economy. By supporting businesses to install carbon efficient technologies, it enables businesses to grow while encouraging investment in new low carbon technologies. To understand the scale of the LoCASE programme, here are some key statistics on what the project will deliver through to 2019:

  • Business support to 1,050 SMEs
  • Cut emissions by 6,510 tCO2e
  • Invest £18.5 million in businesses
  • Introduce 80 new products
  • Create 270 new jobs in the Low Carbon Environmental Goods and Services (LCEGS) Sector
  • Encourage knowledge transfer across the region

Carbon Smart was selected by East Sussex County Council to deliver the LoCASE programme across East Sussex. As a result, our energy advisors are offering free energy audits across East Sussex, visiting a whole range of businesses looking to move forward in the envisaged low carbon economy. In the past couple of months, Carbon Smart has visited Breweries, Catteries, Printing companies, VW campervan restoration businesses and Village halls, to name but a few of the wide range of businesses we’re helping to secure funding for their energy efficiency project.

The LoCASE project represents a very positive move by the local councils involved to help local businesses in the area to execute projects that may have not been financially viable without the grant support. The maximum value of a grant awarded to a business is £10k, which would make up 40% of the total project value while the remaining 60% needs to be funded by the business. Eligible expenditure includes a massive list of potential upgrades including on site electricity generation, building upgrades, CAD software, and many more. As long as you can prove it will make a real difference to the businesses’ costs and carbon footprint, it may well be eligible for a LoCASE grant.

Similarly, LCEGS suppliers are eligible for the same grant funding to help promote and develop their goods and services. In addition, business support for the LCEGS suppliers is driven by the Green Growth Platform – a members organisation which supports businesses through industry experts, business advisors and leading academics.

Once a grant has been approved by the grant administrators, a business has a three-month window to install the recommended technology. Throughout the process, Carbon Smart is directly involved in identifying opportunities, securing funding and reviewing the final installation. Helping businesses to identify and install low carbon technologies has been a real privilege and what makes this project so exciting. LoCASE provides small & medium businesses an opportunity to achieve tangible results over a short space of time with ongoing support along the process.

 

If you have a business in East Sussex area and you’d like to join the LoCASE project, please give us a call 01323 790 030 or email [email protected].

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Post ESOS: When to act  

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In our opinion, businesses should act now to make compliance with ESOS phase two straightforward and cost effective. Of the 100+ business we worked with on ESOS compliance – only a handful had robust enough data to meet the requirements of the regulation ahead of our work with them. Moreover, only 6% (369) of the 10,000 organisations required to comply with the ESOS regulation in 2015 were covered by ISO 50001, which meant they didn’t need to conduct ESOS audits.

This tells us that many businesses were not prepared enough to comply with the requirements of the ESOS regulation in phase one – we fear that inaction in the coming 24 months could mean businesses have to overspend to achieve last minute compliance for ESOS phase two as well.

Act now and avoid the rush by introducing:

  • A Smart Data approach – ongoing data management that will ensure your business has all of the energy data it needs at its fingertips to comply with the next round of ESOS and a performance history that can tell the story of energy efficiency improvements made along the way
  • ISO 50001 – the internationally recognised standard makes it simple for organisations to integrate energy management into their wider approach to quality and environmental management. Businesses that adopt ISO 50001 as a next step will take up the opportunity to manage the roll out of current energy saving opportunities, embed energy efficiency in top management’s strategy and spread the cost of compliance over four years.

Our advice to businesses is to start paving the way for ESOS phase two now, to keep costs down and avoid the sprint to the compliance deadline in four years’ time.

If you are interested in our Smart Data service why not read our SmartPaper written by Aleksandra, one of our in-house data experts. Or to talk with us about your strategic approach to ESOS phase two and ISO 50001, get in touch with [email protected]

 

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Collaborating to cut carbon and costs: raising ambitions to county-level  

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Sometimes we need to join forces to realise our ambitions. Suffolk County Council and Carbon Smart have been helping local businesses to identify cost and carbon savings they could never have achieved on their own – by working with their neighbours to form local energy networks.

A local energy network (sometimes called a district network) is one where heat or power is provided to multiple buildings or sites from one central source. The ‘local’ or ‘district’ network is a decentralised system meaning that the heat or power is produced close to where it is used, rather than through a large power station and transported through the National Grid, thus reduces transmission losses and lowers carbon emissions. Often such schemes include renewable energy or low carbon technologies such as solar panels or CHP (combined heat and power) plant.

Carbon Smart have been working with Suffolk for over two years, and this recent project forms the latest initiative to help the County reach its ambition of being the greenest county. To date they have supported businesses to increase their energy efficiency, generate their own power through renewable energy systems and are now trying to maximise savings opportunities through energy networks. For the businesses involved joining together for a network should bring increased resilience and security of supply, a revenue stream, more competitive energy prices and reduced emissions.

Carbon Smart have mapped the county identifying suitable sites for energy networks and we now have 5 projects moving forward including:

  • Maximising the value one site gets from their solar panels, with benefits like giving neighbouring businesses the opportunity to buy local, green electricity while relieving pressure on the local grid.
  • For another a CHP system will provide power to two light manufacturing sites who will share the benefit
  • We’re also working with the landlords of an industrial estate to explore all options for their mixed-use site – reviewing options energy efficiency and clean energy to supply their tenant businesses. Options include solar, biomass boilers or ground/air source heat pumps.

None of these projects would be feasible for an individual business, due to the scale of the systems, however by joining forces and working with neighbours, these larger scale, higher impact projects can become a reality.

By supporting initiatives like this, Suffolk County Council can enable many more carbon-cutting projects than any single business could undertake. Carbon Smart have seen many local business leaders catching the vision for cutting costs and carbon, and go on to access support and investment that would not have been possible without such a coordinated, scoping approach. Councils have the power to have a real impact when it comes to developing cleaner energy in their area and we hope that thanks to available funding and regional coordination, they seize it.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

New Feed in Tariff rate for solar not in place before March 2016?  

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Since DECC warned us about deep cuts to the Feed in Tariff (FiT) support for solar panels in August this year, we have been waiting to hear what prices will look like from January 2016.

Responses to DECC’s recent consultation on the issue have been prolific and the department still needs to sort through all the responses before they can make an announcement.

However, any negative changes to the FiT scheme can only take place 40 parliamentary days after they are announced. Since Parliament has planned to adjourn over Christmas, and again in February, the new rate might not be in place before end of February or beginning of March 2016.

We are now of the opinion that there will be only a small reduction in the tariff on 1st January 2016, in line with the quarterly reduction we have been used to.

If that is indeed the case, prices in January could be better than anticipated and the current mad rush to install before the end of the year may be a short lived reaction.

Get in touch with us at 0207 048 0450 if you are unsure what to do about your solar energy project.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

New ESOS enforcement date ‘gives’ more time to companies that need to comply  

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Companies that are still working on their ESOS compliance or are struggling to find a Lead Assessor still available before 5 December can panic a little less: the Environment Agency stated in its last newsletter that companies falling under the scheme should ‘Not normally expect [the EA] to take enforcement action for late notification provided it is received by 29 January 2016’.

This effectively means companies can get more time to comply between 5 December and 29 January. It is worth noting that companies planning to comply after 5 December should still get in touch with the EA by that date via their online portal to provide information about their expected compliance date. Companies choosing to comply via an ISO 50001 management system will have until 30 June 2016 to achieve it.

The Carbon Smart team and Lead Assessors will be able to provide support to companies that are still looking to comply after the deadline on 5 December – get in touch with us now at 0207 048 0450 or at [email protected] if you haven’t started your ESOS response yet.

Access the Environment Agency’s newsletter via this link for further details

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

ESOS: Environment Agency says do as much as you can before 5 December  

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Two months away from the deadline, a large number of companies still haven’t gone through the steps to compliance with ESOS, and many face the risk of not hitting the deadline on 5 December.

A project manager at the Environment Agency stated in reply to a query sent by Enistic that ‘Where an organisation has done something rather than nothing before the deadline then this is obviously going to be more favourable to their case when we are reviewing it. We would recommend that organisations do as much as they can before the deadline even if they know they will not be in a position to comply fully by 5 December’.

In light of this comment, businesses that haven’t started complying should look into appointing a Lead Assessor and going through the first stages of measuring their energy consumption sooner rather than later to have, at the very least, initiated something before the deadline comes.

For those companies that have already clicked the ‘submit’ button, it’s a good time to think about how to reap the benefits of the compliance exercise. Now that you know how much energy your company consumes and how it could improve, there are different ways you can make the most of this information. We can help with implementation of recommendations, managing your data on an ongoing basis for future compliance or reducing other environmental impacts in your organisation like waste and water. Get in touch with us to discuss the possibilities and start a plan for the new year.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

DECC proposes deep cuts to Feed in Tariff support  

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DECC have announced a consultation to review the Feed in Tariff (FiT) scheme, by which the government provides financial support for renewable technologies – most notably solar panels.

Currently the government pays the owner of the system for each kilowatt hour of electricity it generates; the owner also benefits from a tariff for each kilowatt hour they export, not to mention reduced energy bills. The subsidy varies dependant on the size of the installation.

According to DECC, the uptake of solar energy has been so great that funds set aside for this scheme will be exceeded sooner than expected, hence a consultation has been launched to revise this financial incentives downwards.

To date the feed in tariff has dramatically reduced the payback time of a solar array; consequently it has significantly stimulated uptake in the market, reducing the cost of the panels themselves. The consultation threatens heavy cuts in January 2016 and the possibly of wholesale tariff removal swiftly thereafter. Given the rates proposed from January 2016, the payback for a typical system will rise from 6 years to more than 10 years.

In addition, the export tariff (the price paid for unused electricity currently exported to the National Grid) is also under scrutiny, potentially increasing payback times further.

Solar energy remains a sensible proposition for businesses irrespective of policy and subsidies, as it provides clean, free electricity not subject to typical energy market fluctuations. But it is clear that to reap the best financial return businesses need to act quickly to secure support under the current arrangements and rates.

 

 

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

ESOS compliance is more straightforward with the Greenstone-Carbon Smart partnership  

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Since the announcement of our strategic partnership in March, Greenstone and Carbon Smart have assisted a growing number of organisations with reporting under the UK’s Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS). The joint ESOS proposition has ensured consistent end-to-end ESOS compliance for both organisations’ clients.

ESOS is a mandatory energy audit compliance scheme set up by the UK government requiring qualifying organisations to measure and audit the total energy usage across all buildings, transport and industrial activities. By 5 December 2015, qualifying organisations are required to have carried out their ESOS assessments and notified the Environment Agency.

Using ESOS dashboards, Greenstone Enterprise software users are able to define what needs to be measured under the scheme and prepare data before an energy audit. Carbon Smart’s approved Lead Assessors then carry out the practical energy audits required under ESOS, compile the required energy audit report and associated evidence pack and register compliance on behalf of organisations with the Environment Agency. Once an audit has been carried out, Greenstone users can manage their data on an ongoing basis, manage their energy saving opportunities, set targets, analyse data outputs and store evidence to prepare for future reporting.

Matthew de Villiers, CEO at Greenstone comments ‘Through this partnership we have been able to provide our clients with a seamless ESOS reporting service. We are delighted to have partnered with Carbon Smart who have extensive experience in energy audits and bring in the expertise necessary to enhance our capabilities in this area.’

Julie Craig, Principal Consultant at Carbon Smart comments ‘Developing this partnership has made the compliance exercise more straightforward for our clients. Greenstone’s software makes collecting the energy data much easier for clients and provides us with a solid set of numbers that we can base our energy audits and evidence packs on. It make the whole process quicker and more economic for clients that need to comply.’

 

ESOS Compliance steps – Click here to find out how Carbon Smart and Greenstone can help you

Daniel Murray
Daniel Murray

Energy audits directive & ESOS: have you considered your group’s other entities?  

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The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) regulation is the UK’s response to Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). The EED is a European-wide Directive which mandates that all large EU organisations must undertake a number of steps, including performing energy audits, once every four years on 100% of the energy the organisation consumes. All qualifying organisations will have to comply with Phase 2 by 5th December 2019. Whilst the EED applies to every EU Member State, there is a degree of flexibility for Member States in terms of qualification criteria, the percentage of energy which must be audited and so on. Requirements therefore vary from one country to another, which can make it difficult for pan-European organisations to understand their what they need to comply with and how best to proceed.

If your group has activities across the EU, you may want to coordinate across your European entities, to evaluate where you need to comply, assist those qualifying regions with their response and ultimately ensure your organisation meets its legal obligations in each market. Some of the key variables from Member State to Member State include:

Compliance threshold

Whilst the qualification thresholds are broadly based on the financial performance or headcount of the business, the specific threshold and relevant organisational boundaries for compliance are different from one country to the next, so it is worth checking whether you are caught in multiple Member States. For example, whilst in the UK you need to meet the qualification thresholds with regards to headcount and financial performance, in Sweden you qualify if you are part of a group which meets the qualification thresholds elsewhere. Similarly, the UK legislation requires the turnover to be over 50M Euros and the balance sheet to be over 43M Euros to be caught. France only requires one of the two, for instance.

It is also worth noting that in France, unlike in the UK, aggregated numbers are the ones taken into account to determine whether organisations need to comply. So, for example, a consolidated set of accounts is used in France, not in the UK. In countries with similar requirements, separate entities that are below the threshold should still check whether they are caught, as they could be above the threshold when aggregated with other entities in the same country.

Energy audits

The percentage of energy that needs to be audited varies: 90% in Germany and the UK, versus 65% in France this time round, going up to 80% next time.

Requirements for the energy auditor specify certain levels of experience and sometimes a qualification from a national body. Spain requires a certificate from the Entidad Nacional de Acreditacion (ENAC), whilst registration with the nominated body BAFA in Germany is not mandatory. Outside of the UK, many other Member States don’t mention the need for a Lead Assessor in their legislation.

In all EU countries, large organisations with an ISO 50001 management system are exempt from carrying out energy audits – with the caveat, in some countries like Italy, that the management system itself includes energy audits.

Reporting compliance

Regardless of whether you are supporting entities in other EU Member States, your compliance response should be done on a country-by-country basis. In the UK, your organisation can choose whether it wants to aggregate with other UK entities that have the same parent organisation as you, and report together to the Environment Agency.

We have worked with many clients to:

  • Review European-wide operations, engaging internal stakeholders to obtain relevant headcount and financial information
  • Assess which Member States the organisation needs to comply in based on our in-depth understanding of the intricate requirements of each country
  • Designed a compliance plan laying out the specific obligations in each country, the different routes to compliance (i.e. ISO 50001 vs energy audits), key deadlines, penalties and the required steps to achieve compliance.

We are already offering our support to large companies with entities across several EU Member States. We can help you too to navigate your way across compliance in different EU countries. Get in touch at 0207 048 0450 / [email protected] to find out what you need to do to comply.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Carbon Smart Winchester Certification is being subsidised for a third year  

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Carbon Smart are working with Winchester City Council to deliver a further year of the successful green business certification programme. Winchester based businesses now have an opportunity to be a certified Carbon Smart enterprise and improve their green credentials. Businesses can expect to have their carbon footprint calculated and support on producing a winning environmental policy and action plan to achieve savings.

Last year over 100 businesses from across the Winchester District signed up to the scheme. The third year has now started and we have already certified 19 businesses, with six businesses achieving Gold Certification.

To find out more about some of these businesses please read their case studies here and here. If your business would like to be involved in the third year of the programme please get in touch with Sarah Hadman-Back on 0207 9408 285 or [email protected].

Kate Cloud, Head of Economy and Arts at Winchester City Council, is keen to boost sustainable business practices:

“Winchester City Council is encouraging businesses to think green for their own immediate benefit and for their legacy for future generations. We have a low carbon route map which guides our own practices, and we want our business community to do their bit to maintain Winchester District as an excellent place to live, work and visit.”

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Look out for the Heat Network Regulations this year  

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Heat suppliers should be on the lookout this year for a little-known piece of legislation – the heat network regulations.

Heat suppliers for communal heating/cooling networks such as sheltered housing, halls of residence or rented accommodation with a shared source of heat, have until the 30th December to take action under the new Heat Network Regulations. Shopping centres and hotels with sub-let space like fitness centres or restaurants may also be caught.

They must provide information about their communal heating/cooling networks to the National Measurement Office. Supply that is part of a package or a service charge is also covered by this new legislation.

With the reporting deadline only weeks away, heat suppliers need to check whether they fall within scope and to gather the relevant information if they do. Failure to do so before the deadline will lead to penalty fines.

If you think this may apply to you, or if you’re not sure, get in touch and we will help you to get it right.

Find out more information about the Heat Network Regulations in our SmartPaper.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Carbon Smart announces partnership with software provider Greenstone to facilitate ESOS compliance  

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Carbon Smart are pleased to announce a new collaboration with Greenstone, provider of non-financial reporting software, to support clients throughout ESOS compliance.

The new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) regulation requires large organisations to measure their total energy consumption over a period of 12 months and audit 90% of that energy before the end of 2015.

Greenstone’s recently launched ESOS reporting functionality is a great addition to its existing non-financial reporting software, enabling clients to easily organise their data, prepare for energy audits and keep all of their actions in one place. The Carbon Smart team are working with existing Greenstone clients and those new to software to ensure gathered energy data complies with the regulation, as well as supporting clients to find energy saving opportunities and assist businesses to take voluntary action to implement the suggested improvements.

Julie Craig, Principal Consultant at Carbon Smart, says: ‘As energy and compliance experts, we are already supporting a number of businesses to comply with ESOS and as such we know that data capture is a long term challenge. By joining forces, Carbon Smart and Greenstone offer a seamless service to clients ensuring a straightforward approach to compliance.’

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Adnams host Suffolk Carbon Leaders event  

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Benedict Orchard, Environmental Sustainability Manager at Adnams, has written a guest article for us about the event we organised in partnership with them on 6th March.

Adnams were very honoured to be asked to host an event for the Suffolk Carbon Leaders (SCL) programme on Friday, 6th March at our brewery, distribution centre and one of our Managed Inns, The Crown, all in Southwold. With over 30 delegates from local Suffolk medium-sized companies, the afternoon was filled with presentations, tours and tastings all with the intention of inspiring others to follow in some of our own green footsteps.

Started in January 2014, the two year SCL programme supports medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Suffolk to save energy, reduce their carbon emissions, minimise resource use at their sites and identify cost savings. The programme, which is part of Suffolk County Council’s wider scheme ‘Suffolk: Creating the Greenest County’ is being overseen by Carbon Smart, who were chosen for their wide range of experience in helping SMEs and providing energy management recommendations.

Adnams have been a proud sponsor of the ‘Creating the Greenest County’ scheme for a few years now, ensuring other local business are recognised for their stellar work through their annual awards and so were delighted to host this event. After talks to the businesses on voltage optimisation, solar energy and behavioural change, my colleague Belinda and I provided guided tours of our brewery, distribution centre and anaerobic digestion plant.

Keith Clarke, of Sembmarine SLP, shared his thoughts on the day: ‘it was refreshing to see a company’s commitment to greening their processes and that it translated through to the knowledge and enthusiasm of the personnel who took us around.’

The day was rounded off with a tutored tasting for the attendees and some new connections were made to help Suffolk continue on its journey to becoming the Greenest County.

You can see some photos of the day on our Flickr site here.

Adam Woodhall, Associate Director of Carbon Smart, who gave the behaviour change presentation at the event comments:

“The whole Suffolk Carbon Leaders team are very grateful to Adnams for hosting us and for giving businesses the possibility to see what can be done to become a more efficient business. We had some great speakers covering a lot of ground, and companies were able to ask any questions they had to be ready to implement the energy efficiency solutions discussed. Thank you to Eagle New Energy and to PowerPerfector for their very informative presentations.”

The event has done a great job of raising interest amongst Suffolk medium-sized businesses and it was a privilege to see all of our work come together and create such positive results.”

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

BP forecast a 25% increase in carbon emissions over the next 20 years  

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At the same time that we hear of record levels of electricity generation from wind in the UK we read BP’s rather gloomy latest energy outlook.

BP are forecasting a doubling of the world economy over the next twenty years with a rise in energy demand of nearly 40%. If two thirds of this demand is met through fossil fuel based generation, as BP predict, then we have no chance of sticking to the path recommended by climate scientists to give us a 50% chance of only seeing a 2°C rise in temperatures.

The solution remains the same – we must work to significantly cut our use of energy and energy intense resources. This is particularly true in the west, where CO2 emissions are many times higher per person than in the developing world.

The UK has committed to reduce emissions by 80% against 1990 levels and every business in the UK has a role to play in achieving this. Carbon Smart believe that with careful management, effective engagement and modest investment we can all make substantial cuts to the impact we have on the climate.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

UK political party leaders commit to action on climate change  

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Last week we witnessed an unexpected development in the run-up to the general elections in May: a cross-party pledge to tackle climate change. David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg warn that climate change is not only a threat to the environment, but also security, prosperity and poverty eradication and promise to fight together against the threats of the changing climate.

The party leaders have committed to seeking fair, strong and legally binding targets and to put an end to the use of unabated coal power. In effect, this means that if we were to continue the use of coal, measures would be put in place to remove the resulting emissions from the atmosphere, such as being captured and stored in rock formations. The message is clear: by securing our energy supply and curbing climate change impacts, we have a better chance at securing economic and social stability and prosperity.

The political party leaders pledge:

  • to seek a fair, strong, legally binding, global climate deal which limits temperature rises to less than 2°C
  • to work together, across party lines, to agree carbon budgets in accordance with the Climate Change Act
  • to accelerate the transition to a competitive, energy efficient low carbon economy and to end the use of unabated coal for power generation

The surprising political cohesion on climate change has been welcomed by businesses that have often criticised the lack of political leadership on climate change and the low carbon economy. Indeed, this political unity inspires confidence in the investment of low carbon technologies, because regardless of the outcome of this year’s elections, tackling climate change will be on the political agenda of three largest political parties.

The pledge comes a few months before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) held in November this year with the objective of setting a legally binding agreement on climate for all nations. Whether Cameron, Miliband or Clegg take the lead, the UK will be seeking to find a strong binding global climate deal.

The timing is right – official figures from the National Grid show that wind energy broke new records in January for weekly, monthly and half-hourly generation, compounding the message that we are now more than ever ready to invest in a low carbon future.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Wind energy breaks UK records in January  

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We are very pleased to see that official figures from National Grid show that wind energy broke new records for weekly, monthly and half-hourly generation, highlighting the central role wind plays in the energy mix.

In January, wind provided 14% of Britain’s electricity (4.13TWh), making it the most productive month ever – enough to power the equivalent of 8.7 million UK homes. The weekly record was broken in January with 1.119 GWh generated, and the half hourly record was exceeded on the 2nd of January when wind supplied 31% of Britain’s electricity demand. The news came as overall UK wind capacity topped 12GW for the first time, a milestone for the country – enough to supply nearly 7 million households annually.

Whilst renewable energy is a fundamental element of our nation’s and indeed the world’s path to a low carbon future, reducing the amount of energy we all need to maintain our quality of life, run our businesses and provide services is just as vital if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Vered Karty
Vered Karty

Is there a real risk of winter blackouts this year?  

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With the fall in temperatures and level of sunlight that come at this time of year, heaters and lights are all being turned on for longer. This surge in energy use is at the origin of the dreaded ‘winter blackout’, where demand exceeds the amount of energy readily available.

But how likely are they to happen?

Britain’s spare energy capacity has fallen this winter, eroding the safety buffer between maximum supply and peak demand to 4%, which is the lowest number we have seen in seven years. This means that if unforeseen events occur, such as the closure of a power station or particularly cold weather, a blackout could happen.

How can they be stopped?

DECC has a certain number of measures in place to prevent a blackout from happening. On a short-term basis, it can pay higher energy users to cut demand when necessary and use emergency generators for a short period. On a long-term basis, it can put dormant energy plants back in use and incentivise high energy consumers to cut down on their energy use by switching off some of their equipment (like industrial fridges) and change shifts to avoid peak times (from 6pm onwards).

Should you be worried?

A recent US Chamber of Commerce report ranked Britain as the most energy secure country in Europe and fourth in the world. As such, there is always a risk of a blackout happening but it is very unlikely.

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Britain’s climate is changing: what is your business doing to stop it?  

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More than ever, reducing our energy consumption and our carbon footprint is essential to mitigate the very real effects of climate change. 2014 has been the hottest and the second wettest in Britain for a century according to the Met Office and sadly, it isn’t just a one-off: the seven warmest years since the records started were all after 2000, showing that average temperatures are rising and pointing to climate change as the cause.

This doesn’t simply mean buying fewer jumpers and more umbrellas – the changes in weather are bound to have dire consequences in terms of floods and heat waves. The damages caused by a flood like the one Britain experienced in 2007 can be very costly, and droughts put vulnerable people at risk.

Reducing these risks is everyone’s responsibility and businesses have their own role to play. Having an effective environmental strategy isn’t simply an opportunity to get ahead of the crowd anymore; it is a no-brainer to prevent costly risks down the line. So, is your business doing everything it can?

 

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New energy legislation for large organisations  

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The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme, the UK government’s response to the 2012 EU Energy Efficiency Directive, requires large organisations to measure their total energy consumption for a period of twelve months starting before the end of 2014.

With the end of the year fast approaching, it is worth making sure whether you’re in or out, and what you should do now if you are covered by the legislation.

All large organisations have to register with the Environment Agency and ensure they are collecting the required data to start measuring their total energy consumption in the coming months. This should include buildings, industrial processes and transport. It requires more energy data to be collected than CRC or mandatory GHG reporting schemes.

A large organisation for ESOS, has:

  • 250 or more employees, or
  • An annual turnover of at least £39 million and an annual balance sheet of at least £33 million.

Once you have measured your energy consumption, you will have to carry out energy audits for 90% of the energy used across your business, write a report to be signed off by an Approved Lead Assessor and ensure it is approved by the Environment Agency before 5th December 2015.

With a vast amount of experience in supporting businesses to achieve legal compliance, Carbon Smart is ideally placed to guide you through ESOS in an effective way. Whether you simply need someone to help you tick the boxes or could use this opportunity to look into cost-effective energy consumption changes, we can offer our knowledge and experience to build your own, tailored, ESOS response.

Contact us now to discuss your ESOS requirements to be ready before December.

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Know thy energy: ESOS and it means for your business  

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The new legislation – The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) – is the UK Government’s proposed approach to leading large enterprises through comprehensive and regular energy audits.

 

The world’s energy conundrum is a tough one: on the one hand energy dependency is substantially increasing, whilst on the other hand, resources are diminishing and the need to reduce consumption is becoming more urgent. Energy efficiency should therefore be a fundamental consideration for UK business, both in the quest for energy security and in limiting the impact of climate change.

With the aim of establishing concrete objectives to improve energy efficiency, the EU passed the 2012 EU Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU), which stipulates a 20% energy efficiency target to be met by 2020 by member states. Crucial for the private sector is Article 8, which requires all member states to introduce a mandatory requirement for all large enterprises to undertake energy audits every four years.

The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is the UK Government’s proposed approach to implementing the requirements set out in Article 8, and is currently being established by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The scheme sets out a broad legislative framework, supported by best practice guidance, which aims to lead large enterprises through comprehensive and regular energy audits.

Under the proposed mandatory energy audits, large undertakings will be required to measure their entire energy consumption over the course of a 12 month period and to determine their most significant energy usage. Organisations will also be required to include assessments of the following three areas: key buildings, transportation and industrial/ commercial processes.

The objective of the regulation is to ensure that the companies which are considered to have the largest energy use understand all aspects of that use in relation to their business: from supply, transformation, transmission and distribution to consumption. Through acquiring the detailed knowledge on energy use, it is hoped that those organisations will make better decisions in terms of good energy management.

Importantly, this month, DECC are due to announce the requirements of the legislation, determining the ESOS compliance criteria. Leading up to the announcement, we are advising all businesses to determine whether they are within the ESOS scope and if this is the case, to start to consider where the gaps may be. We are also urging companies not to treat the legislation as another layer of environmental red tape on top of the existing regulation, but to take the opportunity to examine their energy use and make savings.

There are great benefits of comprehensive energy audits or management systems. Understanding the entirety of your business’s energy system will allow you to identify areas of inefficiency, wastage and perhaps even vulnerabilities within your operations. Being able to address these areas effectively will enable you to minimise your resource consumption, reduce costs, whilst at the same time improving your environmental credentials.

Read our ESOS briefing SmartPaper to learn more about how ESOS will affect you. If you would like to have any further information on energy or environmental management systems or how to comply with ESOS, please contact our London or Manchester based offices for further advice.

Suffolk Greenest County
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Educating Green  

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The Suffolk Carbon Leaders team have been working closely with a number of Suffolk secondary schools to help them improve their sustainability performance – and also help them shout about it. Schools present a great opportunity to make a significant and long lasting impact. More so than with many businesses, when it comes to schools the focus is not just on minimising the negative environmental impacts such as carbon emissions and waste, but is also about maximising the opportunities for positive environmental impacts.

Many local schools are struggling with large energy bills as a result of old buildings and inefficient heating and lighting systems and Suffolk Carbon Leaders have so far identified over £170,000 worth of savings that could be made through energy efficiency improvements; this amounts to over 700 tonnes of carbon.

With hundreds or in some cases thousands of young people walking through their doors daily the potential to use sustainability initiatives to educate and inspire is huge. It’s not just about making savings behind the scenes but about getting the students involved. Initiatives such as switching off lights and recycling will only be successful if everyone takes part, so alongside more technical advice the Suffolk Carbon Leaders team will also be supporting schools in communicating with their students and getting them engaged with their school’s carbon footprint.

Educating students about sustainability is not only good for the school – which reduces its bills and its footprint, and good for the students – who expand their knowledge, but it is also positive for the universities and businesses that these students will go on to in the future as they take their environmental awareness with them. Schools represent a really exciting project for the Suffolk Carbon Leaders Team and we are looking forward to growing and developing a really strong and innovative green schools network in Suffolk.

Analysis
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Degree day analysis helps organisations to evaluate energy performance  

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Deciphering the impact of efficiency measures on your energy consumption from the noise of seasonal influence can be challenging. All it takes is one harsh winter and all reduction targets are off. One method for improving your understanding of anticipated and actual energy consumption is to undertake an exercise known as degree day analysis.

For those new to the topic, degree days are a measure of the severity and duration of adverse weather, both hot and cold. Every degree Celsius above or below a set base temperature counts as a degree day. The cumulative degrees days for a specific day, month or year gives an indication of what the weather was like during that period. More importantly, they can tell us how hard our heating systems are working to compete with fluctuation in outside temperature.

Fortunately the winter of 2013/14 has been mild, resulting in reduced gas and electricity heating bills across the board. A question to ask is, have you reacted and adjusted your current energy management to benefit from potential cost, resource and emission savings? Using degree days to monitor the influence of weather on energy consumption profiles will identify opportunities for savings and isolate anomalies from expected consumption (i.e. increased consumption due to renovation works, a faulty meter, a busy visitor period, etc.).

Carbon Smart recently completed degree day analyses with the Home Office and the Religious Society of Friends to understand how the harsh winter of 2012/13 impeded their energy saving efforts. For the Home Office, the results concluded that despite the harsher weather, they achieved a 41% reduction in carbon emissions compared to forecasted levels. Our evaluation also highlighted that under favourable weather conditions a further 30% reduction could have been achieved. The analysis provided confirmation that the energy savings measures had been a success and strengthens the argument to continue their efforts going forward.

How can degree day analysis help you?

  • Degree days can inform adjustments for thermostat set point and Building Management Systems to reduce overall building energy consumption
  • Identify expected and forecasted savings from actual consumption
  • Understand performance improvements against year on year targets as a result of energy efficiency measures and forecast ongoing trends
  • Isolate anomalous data and highlight potential energy savings opportunities

For further details on how degree day analysis can support and interpret your energy saving efforts, contact Becky at [email protected] or call 0207 920 8285.

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Carbon Smart delivers low carbon technology feasibility studies  

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biomassCarbon Smart has delivered two exciting feasibility studies for a large client.

The first study looked to replace an existing oil fired heating system with alternative new biomass boilers. This served to displace the use of fossil fuels, contributing to organisational carbon saving targets, with the aim of also achieving cost savings.

A number of factors were considered including:

  • practicality of the proposed new system;
  • recommendations on fuel type and system size;
  • costs of system and installation;
  • identifying local fuel suppliers;
  • cost benefit analysis including the Renewable Heat Incentive; and
  • environmental benefits in tonnes of CO2e saved.

Recommendations from the study were used to influence the decision making process for the provision of new boilers on site.

The second study explored the practicality and cost implications of installing an on-site anaerobic digester or composter, to dispose of the organic fraction of the site’s waste. Macerating and dewatering technologies were also considered.

These technologies are suitable for larger clients that have on-site catering facilities such as government estates and large corporate businesses, as well as organisations with high volumes of kitchen food waste that might have a need for a soil improver or compost on their grounds.

In this study, Carbon Smart investigated the suitability of the proposed technologies including: the costs and practicality of installing such systems, sizing the equipment, the environmental benefits, the installation requirements, limitations and approximate costs; as well as relevant legislation and the potential use of by-products.

Quite often clients need to convince their board or senior management team of the costs and benefits of implementing sustainable technologies. As well as understanding whether it is actually practical and effective for on site use. Particularly those with:

  • catering facilities;
  • high volumes of organic waste;
  • high heating bills; and
  • high electricity usage.

If you are looking to put a proposal to your board or management team to influence the decision making process, then we can help you analyse the costs and benefits of your proposal by undertaking similar feasibility studies for various sustainability technology options and scenarios.

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How much energy can you actually save from trying to change working practices in an office?  

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switch offCarbon Smart is addressing a neglected area of scientific enquiry: changing behaviour in an office context. From April to October this year Carbon Smart and Imperial College’s Centre for Environmental Policy are running several experiments in parallel to evaluate exactly what the effects are of measures to change staff working practices in an office context.

The basic idea is: find two office spaces which are separately submetered and are as similar as possible – in one of the spaces try and change staff working practices, in the other (the control group), do nothing – and see what happens to energy use.

With academic support from Imperial postgraduate students and academic staff, Carbon Smart are drawing on their experience to design programmes to change working practices in the different spaces. We have a diverse range of partner organisations keen for us to run the experiment in their buildings.

This cutting edge research will lead to a greater understanding of the part that changing staff working practices should play in an organisation’s carbon management strategy.

For further information please contact Jack Shepherd on 0207 940 8285 or email [email protected], otherwise watch this space for updates on the results as they come in.