Company launches to help business meet Carbon Reduction Commitment

FirstCarbon claims to be able to provide a solution to carbon data management for businesses that don't have the time or resources to handle it in-house, but will be affected by the UK Government's looming mandatory emissions trading scheme.

Under the cap-and-trade scheme, non-energy intensive UK businesses will have to purchase allowances equivalent to their emissions each year. Organisations that will be legally required to participate are those whose half hourly metered electricity readings in 2008 were in excess of 6,000MWh/yr (which equates approximately to £500,000).

Despite the CRC becoming law in April 2010, a recent report issued by Business in the Community showed that two-thirds of firms are unaware of their responsibilities pertaining to the CRC regulations.

According to Donovan "neither software nor consultancy alone are the answers for companies seeking assistance with their carbon reduction strategies.

"Companies still need help with the repetitive task of gathering invoices, metering data, receipts, countless surveys and vehicle logs, whilst chasing their suppliers to do the same. This is the core capability of FirstCarbon."

FirstCarbon claims its services will enable companies to understand the carbon efficiency of their individual business processes by measuring and tracking their corporate carbon footprints, enabling them to reduce their carbon emissions and save money, enabling progress reporting to stakeholders while removing much of the administrative burden.