At Local Energy’s July CRC events, there was a lot of concern amongst our delegates about how to manage the publication of their position on the CarbonReduction Commitment (CRC) league table this autumn; and around the amount of notice they would be given before publication.
In response we set up a survey to allow CRC participants to get an impression of how their organisation will perform according to this year’s criteria.
After four weeks of collecting early action metric (EAM) scores, we have received 100 submissions, covering roughly 4 million tonnes carbon or 6.5% of the total emissions in the CRC Scheme.
Our analysis shows that there is a mixed bag out there, with very few obvious trends, but nonetheless some significant results.
Firstly, let’s look at the top of the table. We received only one submission, from a London hospital, that reported a perfect score – both 100% Automatic Meter Reading and 100% Carbon Trust Standard or equivalent. I imagine that their evidence pack will be relatively easy to complete!
The median combined score is 45%, which effectively means that if you have full CTS or equivalent accreditation, you are likely to have a ‘top half’ league table position and therefore avoid any negative press this year.
Whilst 52 of those surveyed have CTS or equivalent accreditation, it’s difficult to say whether or not this will be true of the private sector, which is currently under-represented in this table.
Another less obvious point to note is that a number of public sector organisations in the North West seemed to do very well. So if you are in the North West and your score is a respectable 60%, you may still find some bad (local) press coming your way.
The bottom of the table is pretty much as expected – 10% have a zero score, and any combined score above 10% should keep you out of the lower quartile.
London Boroughs have tended to score poorly, largely due to having no CTS but also in part to lower than average AMR scores. Perhaps some of the installation and commissioning delays we have heard about have contributed to this.
Next year will, of course, be a very different story, with the inclusion of the absolute metric and growth metric alongside a reduced early action metric. Whether or not the better performers will be able to climb the table through real reductions in carbon emissions remains to be seen.
Click here to view the Local Energy survey League Table