The UK Government is considering a major expansion of the cap-and-trade system for managing national carbon emissions, which would make as many as 5000 organizations subject to compulsory quotas, 5 times the current number.

“As many as 5,000 businesses and public-sector bodies would be forced to buy greenhouse gas permits under plans for a mandatory carbon-trading scheme to be proposed this week by ministers.

An energy white paper, which is to be published on Wednesday and which will take forward Tony Blair’s plans for new nuclear power stations, is expected to commit the government to a world-leading emissions trading scheme going far beyond a European Union-wide system and plans by US states.

It is understood there will be a fresh period of consultation on the proposals - known as the Energy Performance Commitment - that could affect as many as 5,000 British organisations, which could include supermarkets, banks, pubs and hotel chains. Ministers want to spend more time working out the details of what promises to be a controversial scheme and will examine further which organisations should be included.

As with the EU’s permit trading system for big energy users and similar initiatives in some US states, including California, allowances to emit carbon would be bought and sold with an overall output ceiling set by the government.

The UK intends to go further than other major industrialised economies by forcing many other businesses to participate in a trading scheme for the first time.”

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This entry was posted on May 21st, 2007 at 21:29 (GMT) and is filed under Emissions Reductions, Legislation, Policy, UK Energy Policy . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.