The UKs New Low Carbon Rewards

.
As promised The UK has introduced 2 carbon reducing incentive programs for homes and businesses with a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 34% of targets set for 1990. The two wings that make this plan fly are FITs or Feed in Tariff's for home owners, and CRCEES -that's Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme, for businesses. The Brit's Climate Change Act set down in 2008, in many ways required the unveiling of these two new carbon reduction plans if they mean to achieve their ambitious carbon reduction targets. CRCEES is clearly a cap and trade system for larger businesses. Here's an overview from the U.K.'s Department of Energy & Climate Change webpage:

CRC is designed to improve energy efficiency. It will operate as a 'cap and trade' mechanism, providing a financial incentive to reduce energy use by putting a price on carbon emissions from energy use. In CRC, organisations buy allowances equal to their annual emissions. The overall emissions reduction target is achieved by placing a ‘cap’ on the total allowances available to each group of CRC participants. Within that overall limit, individual organisations can determine the most cost-effective way to reduce their emissions. This could be through buying extra allowances or investing in ways to decrease the number of allowances they need to buy.

The Feed in Tariffs are available for any domestic projects under 5 MWs and will be available for 20 year, with most PV tariffs - for projects between 4 kws to 5 MWs - available for the next 25 years. Tariff's set a guaranteed payment rate for electricity generation by a renewable energy source. That's energy generated by solar photovoltaics, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion - using organic materials including sewage waste to produce energy, and domestic microCHP. Generally microCHP systems use external combustion, internal combustion or fuel cell technologies and are self-contained units installed in homes, replacing a homes older heating/power system that relies on fuels or coal. Tariff's are paid when you create your energy for your home or when you export extra energy to the Grid. The Energy Saving Trust online provides a break down of what home owner's need to know to generate their own energy and possibly some extra income. Requirements include using a certified installer and products that follow the UK's microgeneration certificate scheme

Are carbon targets vague?

On a parting note, can we get real with carbon targets? It would be nice to loose the 90's retrospective look at carbon emissions when governments talk about carbon emissions, don't you think. This is not a jab at the UK by any means, but rather a take on the collective US and how we talk about carbon pollution. Carbon emissions today need a relevant context that reflects where we are today and honestly states where we need to be. Most people don't even know what 1990 carbon targets were. Do you know what the target where in the UK for 1990? Does asking that question mean something to CO2 pollution were sending out there in 2010. We can be clearer and shouldn't we be? The world's population is growing quickly and with it energy demands. Kyoto was an agreement that wasn't met by most of the countries that signed on, so referring back just doesn't garner the enthusiasm we need to feel about this topic. Maybe we can talk more about the real pollution we're creating today as we sit idling at a thousand red light intersections from Manila to London. Globally we are sitting at 387 ppm CO2 concentration. Let's look ahead clearly at our problems, talk clearly about them and continue to create solutions relevant to a 2010-2050 future.