£657 million spent on CRC allowances

Preliminary data from the Environment Agency reveals that full participants in year two of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency scheme (CRC) spent a total of £657 million on allowances

The second year of the scheme was the first in which participants had to buy sufficient allowances to cover their CRC emissions. The government sold allowances at a fixed price of £12, with each one equivalent to 1 tonne of CO₂.

The agency says that by the end of July, 93% of participants in the scheme had placed orders for allowances, meaning that emissions covered by the CRC in 2011/12 totalled 54.75 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

In year one, the more than 2,000 organisations participating fully in the scheme reported carbon emissions totalling almost 62 million tonnes.

Although the latest results suggest that total emissions are more than 10% below the levels recorded in year one, the agency is currently taking action to ensure participants still in need of allowances order the amount they require, which is likely to bring total emissions closer to the 2010/11 figure.

The agency also says it expects to publish the second annual performance league table in early December.