European businesses will struggle to hit Government targets for the low carbon economy as they have no easy and consistent way of measuring their impact on the environment.
So says a study by Coleman Parkes, commissioned by LogicaCMG, the European IT and business services company.
Of the 200 leading companies surveyed across the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden, 92 per cent said they were particularly in need of a technology that enabled them to improve their energy efficiency.
74 per cent needed a way to measure their impact on the environment and 72 per cent said they would welcome a technology that helped them manage and monitor non-compliance risks.
Over 90 per cent of companies stated that the Government cannot make the required changes for the low carbon economy without the support of business.
They also stressed the importance of raising awareness of any technology available that will help achieve these targets.
Whilst new technologies can be tangible such as greener building materials or infrared scanning linked to geo-spatial information systems, they can also be in the form of evaluation tools.
“Most EU-based corporates are now part of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme which therefore require them to report on their CO2 emissions,” says Nick Caplan, Chief Marketing Officer, LogicaCMG.
“Failure to do so results in financial penalties which in turn hits their balance sheet. Many companies have implemented some kind of spreadsheet to help monitor their emissions but they are prone to errors and aren’t secure enough.”
“Technology is now available that enables accurate data capture, verification and traceability of emissions and businesses should start to make use of it.”
” At the same time, being able to hit these targets is about the Government ensuring fair cost of carbon.”
According to Ian Parkes, director of Coleman Parkes the EU and national Governments have signed up to hitting certain emissions targets over the coming years.
However, with 74 per cent of European companies not even sure how to measure their current impact, it seems that there is some way to go before business and Government is joined up.
“Offering organisations technology to help them achieve their aims is one key way of ensuring we make our targets,” Parkes says.
There are additional advantages where companies can also use the measurement technologies to help their own customers.
Vaxjo Energy, a Swedish energy company, is one such company that has taken advantage of the new technologies that are becoming available.
In partnership with LogicaCMG the company is developing a web-based system for energy analysis of households from large properties down to small apartments.
The purpose of the system is to increase electricity customers’ awareness by making electricity consumption analysis simple and informative.
Ann-Mari Ståhlberg, President of Växjö Energi AB believes with this solution, her company will be able to offer customers the opportunity to influence and increase the efficiency of electricity consumption.
“For us at Växjö Energi, environmental issues are by far the most important,” she says.
“Accordingly, we see the efforts of the EU and the government as extremely positive.”
LogicaCMG provides a technology solution called Emissions Logic which enables businesses to manage their carbon compliance.
It is a comprehensive emissions monitoring and reporting solution that helps organisations with local and global installations manage their carbon reduction targets and plan alternate abatement strategies.
In turn, this strategic benchmarking provides opportunities for cost reduction.
For further information please go to www.logicacmg.com/regulatory+compliance/350232807