Blog » Energy & Climate Change
Energy & Climate Change
Posted by Robert Milnes, Consultant - Economics & Emissions Trading on 17 May 2012
Climate policy increasingly involves putting a price on
environmental impacts. This can be done by creating a market
through politically influenced targets or by estimating the
monetary cost of the damage which companies cause to the
environment. A pioneering example is the EU Emissions
Trading System (EU ETS), which has created a market for
carbon, targeting the big emitters in Europe. In principle
it is quite simple, the European Commission supplies an
amount of carbon credits which politicians agree is
Europe’s share of what the global skies can tolerate, and
companies buy them up. The more companies emit, the more
demand there is for the credits and so the carbon price
rises. The idea is that as the carbon price rises, big
emitters start thinking about new technologies to reduce
emissions to avoid paying the carbon price. Sounds OK?
Posted by Christine St John Cox, Knowledge Leader: Carbon Management on 19 April 2012
Over the past year we have all watched the build-up to the
Government’s decision on mandatory company reporting of
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and its implications for
businesses. With the Climate Change Act requiring the
Government to introduce mandatory reporting for businesses
by 6 April 2012, or explain why they have not, we have been
waiting with bated breath for the outcome of the
consultation held last summer.
Posted by Mark Johnson, Knowledge Leader - Energy and Carbon Regulation on 28 March 2012
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has
released its long awaited consultation on the simplification
of CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC). They have naturally
placed considerable emphasis on proposals for administrative
savings to address the biggest criticism of the scheme –
its complexity. But will these meet George Osborne’s
requirement for “very significant” savings that will
prevent the scheme being scrapped altogether?
Posted by Gena Gibson, Consultant: Energy and Climate Change on 1 March 2012
The signs of a bubble are that an asset is overpriced and
there is a widespread belief in its price. The dot.com boom
and housing are classic examples because they were both
overvalued at the time, but it was never questioned until
too late – it was unthinkable not to own a house, or not
to be investing in tech stocks.
Posted by Heather Haydock, Practice Director: Energy and Climate Change on 31 January 2012
*UK Energy minister Charles Hendry said in a **recent
address **to a Wilton Park Conference that natural gas is a
critical part of the UK energy mix today and will continue
to have a crucial role tomorrow, and beyond 2030. His
views are echoed by the International Energy Agency (IEA),
who recently published a special report entitled “**Are we
entering a golden age of gas?**”.*
Posted by Chris Dodwell, Knowledge Leader: International Energy and Climate Change on 12 December 2011
*After marathon negotiations which ran 36 hours beyond
schedule, the UN climate change conference in Durban finally
produced a new deal early on Sunday morning. The 5 key
elements of the deal are:*
Posted by Christine St John Cox, Knowledge Leader: Carbon Management on 8 July 2011
Yesterday I supported a West London initiative to encourage
school children to think about their environment and
consider what they can do to improve it.
Posted by Christine St John Cox, Konwledge Leader: Carbon Management on 10 June 2011
Over the past decade, in the private sector, we’ve seen
customers commission an almost cyclic pattern of services.
In the early years our solution was energy efficiency
audits, and a little behaviour change crept in, then we had
a wave of renewable assessments. In 2006 Carbon Management
became the new thing and was all the rage. With the advent
of carbon regulation for the wider audience, compliance
became popular – because it had to be. Now we have a range
of customers whose needs vary from strategy, mitigation
(renewable, energy efficiency and behaviour change), GHG
inventories and regulation.
Posted by Evan Williams, Consultant on 6 June 2011
*Energy efficiency: its a no brainer right? Well maybe its
not that simple.*
