• Overview
• Benefits
  • Features
• Purchasing
• Services
  • Scope of Maintenance Services
  • System Requirements
• Support
• Partners
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The 2010 Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme now called the Carbon Reduction Commitment and Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRCEES) will become law on the 1st April. It has been a long time in gestation and probably the most widely talked about legislation of many years. It began life in a government consultancy paper in 2006, passing several white papers before being formally proposed in an Energy White Paper in 2007.

The CRCEES is a compulsory CO2 emission allowance and trading scheme aimed at reducing carbon emissions and increasing the efficient use of energy in business. It is aimed at the 10% heaviest energy users in the UK, currently set at organisations using over 6,000 KWhr/ 'units' in the trading year of 2008. Additionally there are audit and compliance requirements for organisations using between 3,000 and 6,000 KWhr units. Although at this lower level you will not currently be required to participate in the cap and trade scheme, it is seen as preparation for widening the coverage in the future.

Some key dates are:

• April 2010 March 2011 - All qualifying companies must register
• April 2011 to March 2012 - First of Reporting CRC
• April 2011 - First full year requiring the purchase credits to offset emissions
• April 2011- Sales of unused allowances

Whatever your level of energy use and carbon emissions, it is clear that tracking your energy will become a compulsory legal compliance for all organizations in future.

Understanding your energy usage is the first step to taking control of your company's energy policy and implementing a holistic approach to improvement. Base lining your energy footprint and defining energy policy brings many benefits. Clearly reducing energy consumption will bring immediate financial benefits but it also brings the company a longer view of it sustainability, pride for customers and employees and maybe shareholder confidence in a companies future.

Benefits

IT resources and particularly data centres (where IT gets concentrated), are significant users of energy. As part of an overall energy policy it is important to manage how the IT resources are run. We need to drive the maximum amount work for the energy expended.

Data centre Management Infrastructure Management tools, like Raritan's dcTrack™, allow organisations to track precisely the contents of their data centres, planning use of space vs cooling efficiency, power utilisation and the carbon expended you can establish a baseline and making informed decisions on possible improvement areas and their impact.

ROI

The CRCEES targets heavy users of electrical power. If you are in this category it will add to the cost of your energy. You need to better manage energy and have tighter control over this added cost element. Data Centre Infrastructure Management tools cannot remove you from the CRCEES scheme if you are affected, they can help you ensure you are managing your resources as efficiently as possible minimising the effect.