Tough economic times inevitably increase pressures on government and questions on deficit strategy. The British Retail Consortium have demanded that increases in fuel tax are scrapped as well as keeping the minimum wage in check. The £1bn carbon reduction commitment has hit businesses in the pocket – it is up to the conservatives to boast continual success as a result of this vital initiative. George Osborne is expected to announce some climate change relief for industries new to carbon reduction agreements.

As the international penny pinching reaches a dramatic high, is there any positive news in our plight to save the environment? At a national level yes there is. In the last 20 years, the UK have reduced their carbon emissions significantly through increased natural gas usage. Globally, energy reduction is a tough one to crack. The simple facts are that global emissions are still rising.

We have to concentrate on what we can affect. The UK is seen internationally as leaders in carbon reduction targets and results. I think that the under fire government should be applauded for not budging on this. The focus on renewables particularly nuclear is clearly long term, progressive thinking that won’t get us to the carbon reduction targets in the next 10-20 years but it does display to Europe and indeed the world that the UK understand the paucity of fossil fuels and the importance of controlling climate change.

The immediate problem caused by the economic crisis is that carbon credits / prices are decreasing. Incentivising private sector organisations is the key to carbon reduction – simple as that. There has been talk about have an international carbon price which would be initiated and governed by the United Nations (UN). We need all countries to buy into low carbon trading systems – there has been progress but the profile at a global level of where we really are with carbon reduction must be raised.

Carbon Reduction is in the news again with big brands seeking the environmental limelight and the Conservative Party under close scrutiny. It is widely known that the UK have an ambitious, tough carbon reduction commitment with an objective of reducing carbon emissions by 50% against 1990 by the year 2025. The stretch target of 60% carbon reduction by 2030 and 80% by 2050 demonstrates a need for dramatic change in the UK to reach this achievement. Business Secretary Vince Cable and George Osborne have over past months voiced a concern for the economic impact that steep carbon reduction targets may have on us. It was last Monday that George Osborne has recently shown his true colours further with his take on the plight to save the planet by reducing carbon emission levels. "We're not going to save the planet by putting our country out of business," said the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer. So let's at the very least resolve that we're going to cut our carbon emissions no slower but also no faster than our fellow countries in Europe. That's what I've insisted on in the recent carbon budget."

We applaud the new carbon reduction scheme created by The Freight Transport Association which is focused on gathering statistical driver/vehicle information from as many large scale hauliers/logistics companies as possible in order to understand the current carbon footprint. Household name ASDA are now supporting the Scheme and this will no doubt raise an eyebrow or two amongst their competition - a great PR strategy that ultimately benefits our planet.

The UK has set some very ambitious goals in relation to cutting carbon emissions over the past few years. Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Secretary has set the Carbon Budget for 2011, committing the UK to 50% reductions in carbon emissions under 1990’s usage levels*. Though the budget and goal setting is important to give businesses and homeowners a shared vision of where the UK wants to be in the fight for UK’s ‘green’ badge, much is still to be done in setting sensible key strategies in place to make this happen.

The harsh reality of these increasingly ambitious goals and claims is that the UK has failed to fully realize an ‘energy reduction’ related target since 1986. Why is this? Maybe, it is that a little too late has been done in some cases and ultimately, energy savings are still not really the top of the UK government’s agenda. The Carbon Trust for example was set up to help support industry through the necessary changes it would need to make to reach any reasonable differences in energy use. The Carbon Trust was able to support SME’s through free advice and interest free loans, and was able to support large organizations by offering comprehensive energy advice at a reasonable cost, but earlier this year the loans were cut and passed over to a profit making organization; Siemans Financial Services. Since March 2011, it has lead me to examine, how exactly is the Government going to reach these targets when it doesn’t support the underdogs in a tough economic climate?

The loss of the interest free Carbon Trust loans didn’t necessarily come as a surprise. It was never a sensible business model- the Government loans money for free, and businesses have up to three years to make repayments which are filtered back into the original pot to be recycled. Apart from the warm glowing feeling the Government may have got from loaning money for free, it was never sustainable, and maybe it is ideas like this one that has somewhat led to the economic crisis we are still all sitting in. Unfortunately for SME’s now, there are no interest free or even low interest loans available for implementing low energy technologies into your business. It seems that Siemens Financial Services came along with the largest lending power and believing the ability to simply offer loans at 8-9% interest would be enough to woo the masses.

It makes sense for the UK to build towards a low carbon future, but energy intensive SME’s need more help to make significant reductions to their energy bills. The introduction of the loans by Siemens’s Financial Services is not going to be enough to make customers commit to expensive physical changes to their business. It was fairly clear to see from the beginning, that interest free loans were not a sustainable way to be able to keep offering companies incentives to make energy saving differences, neither however are inflated interest rates in a recession. A sensible way forward, would be for the Government to introduce LOW interest loans specifically for companies wanting to purchase low energy equipment.

*SOURCE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/may/17/carbon-budget-greenest-government

A news article posted by the BBC on the 16th August clearly demonstrated the rise in energy costs across the ‘Big 6’ energy companies for 2011. The results were astounding and have been listed below (the figures represent the overall energy price rise over the past 8 months):

Total Gas Price Rise Total Electricity rate rise

British Gas 25% 23%

E.ON energy 21% 20%

EDF Energy 6.5% 7.5%

(but have yet to announce their most recent rise)

N Power 20.8% 12.3%

Scottish and Southern Electric 28.4% 11%

Scottish Power 21% 18.9%

Gas prices have risen an average of 20.45%, and electricity prices have risen on average 15.45% in the past eight months alone.

The price rises are sickening especially since the energy companies have been announcing healthy profits for the first half of the year. Keeping your business afloat in these tough economic times is hard enough without having to compete with rising energy costs that could potentially lead your company to sink. The key to avoiding the pitfalls associated with rising prices comes down to one thing: knowing the terms and contract ending dates of your current tariffs!

In fact...as a business owner, do you know when your contract is due for renewal? If you do not know this information, you could be in danger of being forced onto a rollover contract. Karla Newbury Jones from Mrs Energy Ltd, is an impartial energy broker and urges customers to read their contracts and read correspondence from the energy companies specifying details of when your renewal is due. In fact Karla does not believe you should have to waste valuable business time reading your contracts when she will do it on your behalf for free. If a company does not get in touch with their energy provider THREE MONTHS before a contract is due to be terminated, the energy companies can roll you onto a tariff that they choose for 12 months and there is literally nothing you can do about it.

Easily Rectified

Rollover tariffs need never happen if you utilise the key, free services that have been designed to stop your business from falling into these deep, dark rollover pits. Mrs Energy Ltd recently demonstrated to us how they can not only organise your bills for FREE and manage the renewal process on your behalf, but can also get you a fantastic deal on your new rates and potentially lock in a new price one year before your contract is due for renewal. Mrs Energy Ltd have strong relationships with the Big 6 energy suppliers and more bespoke energy suppliers. As a result, they have much larger buying power than say, if a small independent company goes directly to the energy company requesting a tariff themselves.

Business owners have enough to do already without having to grapple with the terms and conditions of their energy providers!

For more information, visit www.mrsenergy.co.uk and ask to speak with Karla- Mrs Energy herself!

To view the original article, please visit to the BBC link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14545777