Carbon Q & A
How does the Government calculate emissions per company?
Emissions data for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is input to the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. Emissions are allocated to particular sectors by source (eg emissions from a power station are allocated to the energy sector). The reporting methodology is in line with international requirements under the UNFCCC.
Are there incentive programmes for company’s to reduce their emissions?
Emissions trading is emerging as a key instrument in the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The rationale behind emission trading is to ensure that the emission reductions take place where the cost of the reduction is lowest thus lowering the overall costs of combating climate change. Participating companies are allocated allowances, each allowance representing a tonne of the relevant emission, in this case carbon dioxide equivalent. Emissions trading allows companies to emit in excess of their allocation of allowances by purchasing allowances from the market. Similarly, a company that emits less than its allocation of allowances can sell its surplus allowances. In contrast to regulation which imposes emission limit values on particular facilities, emissions trading gives companies the flexibility to meet emission reduction targets according to their own strategy.
Is government offering a solution to reducing emissions?
Not sure exactly what this question means. The government is offering many types of measure to try and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mainly CO2) including taxes (fuels, energy and e.g. car tax for dirtier vehicles) as well as tax breaks for cleaner energy types e.g., wind farms and biomass electricity. The UK is also part of the European emission-trading scheme. Free advice and help is available from government-funded bodies such as the EST and Carbon Trust. The government has set a target for the UK to reduce CO2 emission by 20% of 1997-98 levels by 2010 and the government has also set itself and government bodies various targets to reduce emissions.
However, there is a concern that the government is not doing enough to help reduce emissions quickly enough – perhaps because they see a clash with economic growth.
Is it mandatory for Organisations to use VC and report their emissions?
No. However, internal environmental policy and corporate targets push us towards lower carbon ways of communicating e.g. less travel or more efficient travel and VC. We have found it very difficult to monitor actual savings from VC use (to report the ‘good’ news). This is mainly due to the great difficulties of recording who was in each VC meeting and with whom; what the distances are; what their mode of travel might have been; and even if the meeting would have gone ahead anyway if it wasn’t for VC availability. Anything that would help solve this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Travel is inevitable. What % of travel is required to be reduced this year in the UK?
This is a very open ended question. A better way to think of this is to address how we travel rather than how much. For instance, if we switched to such schemes as car sharing and increased utilisation of public transport, then this could reduce emissions greatly.
Is advice available to Company’s on becoming carbon Neutral?
There is no such thing as carbon neutrality. It is virtually impossible. So long as you live a western lifestyle, you will be responsible for carbon emissions.
There is a growing business field called ‘carbon offsetting’ whereby a party pays another party to ‘offset’ the first party’s carbon emission by planting trees or investing in cleaner energy technology in the UK or abroad. However, the jury is very much out on this subject. Tthe best thing you can do environmentally is reduce your energy consumption in the first place or invest in cleaner, renewable technology and energy sources.
Carbon sequestration by tree planting is a red herring. For instance, how long will the tree stay alive in the ground? Will it become part of a permanent forest? How long will it take to ‘off-set’ the amount of carbon you have paid to have off-set? Why do different companies charge different prices? There is growing scientific evidence that tree planting in e.g., Scotland actually releases more carbon dioxide than it captures due to our very carbon rich peaty soils. There is also evidence that a tree in temperate forests (i.e. European) produces more warming from its absorption of solar radiation than would be caused by the carbon it locks up.
The most dangerous facet of the burgeoning carbon offsetting industry is that it appears to offer a solution. We can just buy our way out of trouble and not have to change our western fossil-fuel dependent lifestyles. This is nonsense. Overall CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions have to be reduced if we want to have a chance of averting the worst chaos from climate change.
In saying that, the UK government and the Scottish Executive are investing in Carbon off-setting the emissions from their travel, especially flying, typically through the investment in more energy efficient technology in developing nations e.g., solar ovens to India. This prevents the use of fossil fuel to power cooking. It is meant to ‘off-set’ the amount of carbon that would be released by cooking with fossil fuels. There are also many other benefits to this type of activity as it can help raise some people out of poverty and make them less reliant on fossil fuel. Similarly with tree planting, while it may not be effective at capturing Carbon emissions, it does provide recreational space for you and me as well as for habitat that can boost biodiversity.
It is worth pointing out that the government is sufficiently alarmed with the claims and prices offered by the Carbon off-setting industry that they have decided to regulate it (although probably in a voluntary capacity). Consultation is out now.
Incidentally, CO2 released by an aeroplane is typically 3 times more potent than CO2 released at ground level i.e. it has 3 times more global warming potential at altitude than it does at ground level.