Last year the Carbon Trust identified carbon savings of 2.7 million tonnes of carbon through working with companies, but the agency wants to drive energy efficiency in many more corners of corporate and manufacturing life.

The Carbon Trust is dedicated to helping UK businesses understand the financial and environmental risks of wasting energy, and enjoy the commercial benefits of managing energy and carbon responsibly. To highlight its extensive work in this area, and to promote the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management programme, it is launching a partnership with The Times.

The Carbon Trust has invited companies to take up Carbon Management and will work with three companies to help reduce wastage and costs. A series of reports in The Times newspaper will cover the work undertaken by The Carbon Trust and the chosen companies.

Projects cost from £4,000 for an initial scoping survey, to between £40,000 and £55,000 for an all-encompassing service. The Carbon Trust will provide 50% funding up to a maximum of £20k per annum for three years.

The Carbon Management programme is designed specifically for businesses with energy bills of over £1 million. Its aim is to help them thrive as the economy inevitably shifts towards carbon-constraint, by saving costs as well as reducing harmful emissions.

Benefits of the Carbon Management programme include significant cost savings in the resource-draining areas of energy consumption, transportation, and waste disposal. The Carbon Trust educates clients on environmental legislation including the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings, giving clear guidance on compliance.

There is also an emphasis on protecting company reputation and seeking out new business opportunities when revolutionary, low carbon emission processes are developed. Many companies forget the positive PR stories that can come out of this kind of socially responsible work, so it’s worth publicising reductions in CO2 emissions and the innovative ways this has been achieved.

A great deal of work will be carried out by a dedicated account manager from the Carbon Trust to research and develop a coherent plan for managing risk. The bulk of the work centres on identifying the company’s carbon footprint and assessing the carbon and energy saving potential across the organisation. Finally, measures to reach these goals are carried out and the company is given an overall strategy for carbon management that will prepare it for a changing future.

Companies can expect site surveys, comprehensive reviews of existing processes, advice on alternative technologies, pilot projects, benchmarking and staff training. There may even be opportunities to team up with the Carbon Trust on marketing activities to publicise achievements.

There are many satisfied customers across most industry sectors. John McCabe, corporate affairs manager at Alcan Smelting & Power UK says: “It is our belief that the twin objectives of environmental stewardship and increased productivity can be achieved simultaneously in the manufacturing sector.” He adds: “Our participation in the Carbon Management pilot programme, coupled with previous and on-going investment, will help Alcan to further reduce our environmental footprint, while at the same time allowing us to grow our business and propel productivity to world-class levels.”