REDUCE YOUR CARBON EMISSIONS

The reassuring thing about reducing your carbon emissions is that you can decide how far you want to go. The important thing is getting started, and, as you may have heard the government is supporting SME’s by offering them funding through Carbon Trust loans.

It is timely help indeed as companies, who tender for public sector work, and/or supply an increasing number of major organisations, are finding they require a Carbon Management Programme. This leaves many, especially smaller companies wondering how to progress. They need the business, but they can't tender without taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint.

Knowing where to start can be bewildering but there are a number of ways that companies can find support. For instance, I'll be the non-executive 'dedicated Energy Manager' for my clients, and take the onus away from them by creating and writing the Carbon Management Programme which states what the company wants to achieve, and how to achieve it. Then if funding is required, I'll present the plan to the Carbon Trust and arrange the loan. The crucial point is that the monthly repayment will always be less than the saving made, and you don't pay any interest.

I am also very interested in Carbon Offsetting, and I feel that local businesses could benefit hugely from the good PR it can bring if this is done in the correct way. Most people think about planting trees, but, this can be an inefficient method of offsetting your carbon. Money seeps out of the system along the way, the private companies and auditors that are involved in the scheme will obviously be taking a percentage, then money has to be paid to the tree-planters and land-owners etc, therefore leaving less available for the programme itself. I have built a relationship with a local charity who raise money to buy photovoltaic cells for schools in Sri Lanka. Their focus is education and the children, my focus is finding an efficient way for companies in the UK to offset their carbon. Nobody takes a percentage, and the marketing and PR value is tremendous.