How many times a week do you leave the office knowing your computer screen is switched to stand-by for the night? If you’re first in the building in the morning, do you regularly find that the lights are still on? Would it be a big inconvenience for the staff in your company to start thinking about saving energy? The answer’s probably a resounding “no”. The problem is that, for many of us, habit dictates and we really just don’t think about it.But with the recent media furore about energy efficiency, it’s clear a change is on the horizon. Projects to promote energy saving can no longer be viewed as just a public relations stunt. It is widely acknowledged that businesses are the biggest villains when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. And it’s not just the large multinationals that are being called to account, small businesses need to be open about their emissions as well as actively pursuing a plan to cut their output.Most energy in the UK comes from non-renewable fossil fuel. Burning this leads to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.But small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are in danger of missing emissions targets for one simple reason: there’s not enough money floating around to be able to implement the kind of initiatives needed to make a difference. Well, that’s where things could be about to change. In this year’s Budget, the government made a pledge to send an extra £100m in the direction of business service providers to enable SMEs to find advice and help about energy efficiency.The move has been applauded by the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), which has long recognised that this is the area that would benefit most from help. “We welcome this extra funding to assist small businesses to go green,” says Natalie Evans, head of policy at the BCC. “However, it is important that this money will be effective in meeting this aim. “SMEs are keen to become more energy efficient, as a greener workplace creates a more efficient and profitable business. The current system of environmental audits has been ineffective, with 62 per cent of respondents in a recent survey undertaken by BCC saying they felt current government initiatives to promote energy efficiency were unsatisfactory.”Also in that survey, 81 per cent of BCC members thought that a reduction in their energy bills would be the biggest incentive for them to become more energy efficient.So this significant governmental cash injection should help boost the information and resources already available to smaller firms. But many are warning that even this may not be enough. As yet, improving energy efficiency is not a legal requirement for small businesses and many companies still don’t view their operations as major offenders in the fight to improve the environment. So why bother?According to the government, there are quite a few compelling reasons to get enterprises to commit, including the one big incentive already recognised – it saves money. Firms will be able offset their escalating fuel costs and environmental taxation. And in a bid to make energy efficiency more desirable, the government has raised a surcharge on business energy consumption. Introduced in 2001, it’s known as the Climate Change Levy. A percentage of the revenue from the levy is recycled via a rebate in employers’ National Insurance contributions. The government also uses cash to fund financial and advisory services designed to help firms become more energy efficient.Only time and monitoring will see if there are any real changes brought about by the extra cash. As Evans points out: “If the government wants to meet the challenge of climate change, it is important that this extra funding is not wasted, but is properly targeted and made easy for business to access, so SMEs see a real positive change in the support provided.”For more information about how small businesses can save energy, the Carbon Trust acts as the government’s main provider for helping businesses improve their energy efficiency. The trust offers a wide range of advice-packed free publications as well as a UK wide telephone advisory service on 0800 085 2005.
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