http://www.forbes.com
AFX News Limited
05.23.07
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The UK government's Energy White Paper, to be released today after a series of delays, is expected to propose a new emissions trading scheme that could affect up to 5,000 companies in the UK. Under its widely anticipated Energy Performance Commitment programme, large non-energy intensive businesses and public sector organisations would be included in a mandatory emissions trading scheme in the 'cap and trade' tradition of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Cap and trade usually involves a government setting a limit (cap) on the amount of pollutants that can be emitted, and any reduction by a company below that level can be sold or traded to other companies that have used more than their allocation. Much of the fine-tuning of the proposal will take place through consultation after the White Paper is published but the scheme outlines the potential for up to 5,000 companies to fall under the remit of EPCs.
The number of companies affected will depend on a threshold of electricity consumption that has yet to be decided but according to a Defra emissions report, the focus of the departments consultation covered a threshold of 3,000 MWh per year of electricity, which covers a sector of about 5,000 organisations including supermarkets, hotel chains and rail operators.
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