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The original plan ÔÇô under the scheme due to go into effect next April ÔÇô was to redistribute proceeds from the sale of carbon-emission allowances among participants in the scheme, based on their successes in curbing greenhouse-gas emissions. But on Tuesday, the Department of Energy and Climate Change issued a statement, saying the Treasury would keep the proceeds.
"Revenue raised from the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme will be used to support the public finances (including spending on the environment), rather than recycled to participants," the statement read.
The decision was part of a spending review by the department, which pledged to reduce resource spending by 18 percent, while increasing capital spending by 41 percent. The department also committed to a 33-percent reduction of its administration budget.
Thousands of UK organizations have already registered to participate in the CRC scheme. The aforementioned revenue will come from about 5,000 organizations that consumed 6,000MWh of electricity or more during 2008. These participants will have to buy emission allowances during the initial sale in April 2010 at £12 per tonne of CO2.
Registered companies in the high-emission bracket include some of the biggest data center providers and vendors that sell into the space, including Digital Realty Trust, Interxion, Equinix, TelecityGroup, SunGard, Savvis, HP, Dell, IBM, Cisco, ABB, Eaton, Schneider Electric and Microsoft.
At the end of an initial three-year phase, the government will cap the total number of allowances and auction them to emitters, rather than selling at a fixed price. The auction system is expected to raise the price of allowances, thereby providing a financial incentive for companies to emit less.
The original plan ÔÇô under the scheme due to go into effect next April ÔÇô was to redistribute proceeds from the sale of carbon-emission allowances among participants in the scheme, based on their successes in curbing greenhouse-gas emissions. But on Tuesday, the Department of Energy and Climate Change issued a statement, saying the Treasury would keep the proceeds.
"Revenue raised from the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme will be used to support the public finances (including spending on the environment), rather than recycled to participants," the statement read.
The decision was part of a spending review by the department, which pledged to reduce resource spending by 18 percent, while increasing capital spending by 41 percent. The department also committed to a 33-percent reduction of its administration budget.
Thousands of UK organizations have already registered to participate in the CRC scheme. The aforementioned revenue will come from about 5,000 organizations that consumed 6,000MWh of electricity or more during 2008. These participants will have to buy emission allowances during the initial sale in April 2010 at £12 per tonne of CO2.
Registered companies in the high-emission bracket include some of the biggest data center providers and vendors that sell into the space, including Digital Realty Trust, Interxion, Equinix, TelecityGroup, SunGard, Savvis, HP, Dell, IBM, Cisco, ABB, Eaton, Schneider Electric and Microsoft.
At the end of an initial three-year phase, the government will cap the total number of allowances and auction them to emitters, rather than selling at a fixed price. The auction system is expected to raise the price of allowances, thereby providing a financial incentive for companies to emit less.