Kick the Habit: A UN Guide to Climate Neutrality

CAMSAT – the Carbon Management Self Assessment Tool Another tool from UNEP’s Energy Branch is CAMSAT – the CArbon Manage- ment Self Assessment Tool . Its purpose is to help organizations assess the qual- ity of their carbon management, and their ability to respond effectively to the challenge: www.uneptie.org/energy/tools/CAMSAT/CAMSAT_index.htm CAMSAT comprises 23 multiple-choice questions in five sections, covering the major aspects of carbon management (Assessment and Monitoring of GHG Emissions; Emission-reducing Activities; Carbon Offset Strategies; Communication and Reporting; and Assessment of Carbon Risks and Op- portunities). The results of the test will provide users with an overall score and identify areas that may require further attention. Advanced metering One technology which can help small and medium enterprises to measure their GHG emissions more effectively is advanced metering . The UK’s Advanced metering is designed to provide utility customers with information on a real-time basis about their domestic energy consumption. This information in- cludes data on how much gas and electricity they are consuming, how much it is costing them and what impact their consumption is having on greenhouse gas emissions. Advanced metering is a process for achieving significant energy and cost savings. Efforts are under way to make advanced metering technology available for SMEs as well. As considerable investment is involved, cost savings so far are pos- sible only on annual energy bills of €60 000 (US$96 000) or more. Carbon Trust says its use by SMEs could save 2.5 million tonnes of CO 2 emis- sions per year – equivalent to the entire annual carbon footprint of a medium- sized city. Over three years the Trust installed advanced meters at more than 580 sites across the UK and found that by switching to them SMEs could on average identify potential carbon savings of over 12 per cent and successfully achieve savings of more than 5 per cent. On average, the companies in the trial saved over £1 000 (US$2 000) a year on energy. The greatest savings went to multi-site businesses, such as retail and wholesale chains, and to high energy users like small manufacturing companies. Widespread adoption of advanced metering by British SMEs would result in annual cost savings of £300 million (US$600 million) for small businesses, the Trust concludes. Calculators The Carbon Neutral Company ( www.carbonneutral.com ) has a calculator

KICK THE HABIT THE CYCLE – COUNT AND ANALYSE 70